Lelouch of the Rebellion RX: Demonic Knights
by BlackTyrantValvatorez
Summary: Instead of making a push to take the Tokyo Settlement in the aftermath of the SAZ massacre, Lelouch decided to abandon Nunnally and become Zero full-time. When the Emperor tries to intercept Lelouch, he Geasses his father into erasing all of his memories save that Zero leads the Black Knights and that he desires to destroy Britannia. Rated for future violence and language.
1. Leaving Area Eleven

"Lelouch"- talking normally

"{Die.}"- Geass command

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Aboard a large tanker, 12 nautical miles from Area Eleven, 2017.

Zero stood on the almost lifeless deck of the tanker alone. The Black Knights had decided to accompany him and they knew his identity as Lelouch since he revealed it to them after the tanker began it voyage to the Chinese Federation. They had supported him fully and vowed to help him no matter what happened after learning his motives for fighting Britannia. When Zero revealed his identity, he had also told them about Geass. Zero was deep in thought as he had a flashback of what happened.

Two days ago, they had no choice but to kill Princess Euphemia when she declared her intent to kill the Japanese. Britannia came down hard, but Zero parleyed with Cornelia and convinced her to allow the Black Knights to leave Area Eleven in exchange for not committing genocide against any Elevens that stayed. In secret, Zero also agreed that the Black Knights would leave Britannia alone for a period of six months. 90% of Area Eleven's native Eleven population had decided that they would leave in support and solidarity of Zero. The remaining ten percent were all Honorary Britannians, who scorned their former countrymen for leaving.

Lelouch was shaken out of his thoughts as he heard a helicopter approaching. It landed on the tanker and saw the Emperor step out along with a blond boy that Lelouch didn't recognize. Suzaku came out of the copter as well and the exiled prince's blood ran cold as Suzaku also exited with Nunnally.

"It has been a long time, Lelouch vi Britannia, or should I say, Lelouch Lamperouge." Emperor Charles zi Britannia said.

"Do not try to lure me into a false sense of security, Emperor. I have abandoned the name Lelouch Lamperouge. Lelouch Lamperouge died in Tokyo yesterday, executed in secret by the Black Knights for being a spy. My name is Zero now. I am a parentless man who only seeks to destroy Britannia." Zero coldly said to the Emperor.

"You would abandon your sister for this!? I had V.V. kidnap her and you didn't pursue them!"

"Do not try to deceive me! Nunnally vi Britannia is not my sister! She is my enemy!"

"Lelouch, why are you doing this!? You murdered Euphemia, and I can't forgive you for that!" Suzaku shouted.

"B-Brother, why? Why are you running away!?" Nunnally cried to Lelouch.

"I have no siblings! I only have the Black Knights!" Lelouch yelled coldly before his Geass activated and he stared into the Emperor's eyes and said, "{You will use your Geass on me to erase all of my memories save for that I am Zero, that I am the leader of the Black Knights, that I possess Geass, and that I am a parentless and siblingless man whose only goal is to destroy Britannia. Furthermore, until you die, you will acknowledge that Lelouch vi Britannia a.k.a. Lelouch Lamperouge died as an ally of Britannia who spied on the Black Knights.}"

The Emperor's eyes had a red ring form around them and he looked ready to kill Lelouch before he said, "Very well then."

Charles zi Britannia looked at Lelouch in the eyes, the young man's gaze not straying from the Emperor as he did what Zero's Geass commanded him to. He then said, "We will leave now, Zero. Our business is done and we know that you will not return for at least six months."

The Emperor had Suzaku, V.V., and Nunnally return to the helicopter before he boarded it himself and it took off for areas unknown. Darlton hailed the Emperor and said, _"Dammit, Your Majesty! This was our chance to eliminate the Black Knights and you didn't allow us to!"_

The Emperor simply responded with, _"The time for the Black Knights will come another day. Today was not the time for the Black Knights to die."_

_"Understood, Your Majesty. I will not question your wisdom again."_

* * *

**A/N: This will not be your typical story. Lelouch knew what he was getting into when the SAZ massacre occurred and this time he has decided to abandon Nunnally, become Zero full-time, and establish the Black Knights' power base in the Chinese Federation. C.C. will not restore Zero's memories until Chapter 10 even though they will reunite in Chapter Four and even then Lelouch will not focus on finding out who killed his mother until the Black Knights have captured Nunnally, Sayoko and Jeremiah. No, I won't specify what chapter will have the Black Knights capture her, but rest assured that it will be some time after Zero's memories are restored that the Black Knights will launch an operation to capture Nunnally.**


	2. Persona Non Grata

"Lelouch"- talking normally

'LOADING SYSTEM.'- Computer infomration

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Mountain safehouse, Himichal Pradesh, Militarized Zone of India, November, 2017.

Inside a room with a few computers at the mountain safehouse, Zero saw a few personnel looking at intelligence that had been gathered. Apparently Odysseus was going to be joining hands with the Empress of the Chinese Federation, a young thriteen-year-old girl named Jiang Lihua, in three weeks. The seventy-five soldiers who shared the safehouse with the Black Knights were members of an organization called a Private Military Company or PMC. They had helped the Black Knights settle into the Chinese Federation only a mere two days after the Black Knights had arrived.

When the Black Knights were accepted into the Chinese Federation, they initially had nothing except for their submarine and any equipment that had been onboard. After receiving help from the PMC, the Black Knights had gotten a safehouse in China proper and from there they received their first mission on the fifth day since their arrival from the Empress, who answered by the alias Tianzi. Extremely violent riots had broken out in Shanghai and the Black Knights were to assist the PMC in suppressing them. The mission was a success and with it the Vermillion Forbidden City became a second safehouse that the Black Knights could operate from. Seven missions later, with one mission being performed each week, the Black Knights now had a total of eight safehouses throughout the Federation. The High Eunichs were not happy about the Black Knights blatantly operating and tried to devise a plan to replace the current Empress with an anti-Black Knight one under their control, but Tianzi had enough of their schemes and the sixth mission of the Knights was to destroy the Eunichs.

Needless to say, it went semi-flawlessly and Tianzi began the slow process of consolidating her power through the Black Knights and the PMC. However, Britannia found out about the destruction of the High Eunichs and began plotting to defeat the Black Knights by capturing or killing their leaders. Shortly after a mission that involved receiving assistance from the PMC, the PMC had brought to the safehouse a critically injured soldier who went by the designation 'N-11' and was a very resourceful man.

The leader of the PMC, a man called Harsha Vazano, said, "Zero, we've got vital signs, but they're weak. N-11 won't last without proper medical attention."

"N-11 is a hard bastard. Trust me, he'll make it." Zero replied but very quickly on a small monitor the words 'PERIMETER BREACHED' appeared as a radar alarm sounded and a Black Knight came to Zero and said, "Incoming signatures."

"We've got company." Harsha said.

"It's the Britannian Empire. They're tying up loose ends. Who's your best man." Zero remarked.

"Ivan. Ex-Russian. Only man I know who hates Britannia more than you."

"Get him. They'll use the ridgeline for cover and fly in from the south with foot soldiers." Zero said as the monitor hooked up to the radar tracked hostiles approaching the safehouse.

"How do you know?"

"It's what I would do. Additionally, the area around this safehouse is currently being covered by the effects of a special jamming field that prevents any Britannian Knightmare Frames from operating at all and even if the jammer was taken offline, the terrain makes incoming Knightmares easy targets."

* * *

"Britannian attack choppers coming in from over the ridge!" a PMC soldier shouted.

"How many of them are there?" a Black Knight asked.

"Five VTOL Gunships and six- no, seven transport helicopters! Commandos fast-roping down!"

"Get a fire team on the roof!"

"Ivan! Ivan, over here!" Harsha shouted as Ivan came into the room where Zero and Harsha were watching a doctor attempting to patch up one of N-11's wounds. N-11, a young man with brown hair who wore a red headband in addition to the PMC uniform, grabbed Ivan's shirt and coughed from his wounds.

"We need to get N-11 to the evacuation chopper!" Zero said.

Harsha heard a low flapping sound and asked, "What is that!?"

The sound gets louder and both Harsha and Ivan turn to face the far wall. Suddenly a Britannian VTOL Gunship crashed through the wall and knocked everyone down before falling out of the room. Outside, Ivan saw seven Britannian transport copters fly in and begin to drop Britannian Special Forces as Zero asked, "Is everyone alright?"

Harsha then motioned Ivan to Zero and said, "Do whatever this man says!"

"Ivan, take position on the balcony! We need to buy the doctor some time! Keep your eyes on the courtyard." Zero said as Ivan pulled out and cocked an AK-47 that had a GP-25 under-barrel grenade launcher and Red Dot Sight. He saw a PMC soldier shoot down a transport copter with a Rocket-Propelled Grenade and then the courtyard's gate exploded as Britannian Commandos breached and both the PMC troops and Black Knights began to engage them.

"They've breached the courtyard! Take them down!" Zero shouted as he pulled out a Britannian Assault Rifle and began firing onto the enemies in the courtyard with Ivan. After about twenty commandos were killed, Zero ordered, "We need to hold them off until we can move N-11!"

After a few seconds, during which Zero and Ivan were able to kill an additional ten or eleven commandos, the Britannians popped smoke in the courtyard as a VTOL Gunship appeared and fired a burst of ventral cannon fire, killing the doctor before it was shot down by an RPG fired by a PMC soldier and crashed into the surrounding area.

"The doctor's down! Ivan, we need your help! Get over here and give N-11 the shot!" Harsha shouted. Ivan then proceeded to the table, picked up a syringe, and gave N-11 a shot of adrenaline to keep his heart beating. A Britannian commando then broke down the door and entered with the intent of capturing or killing everyone, but Zero quickly pulled a pistol out and shot the hostile in the head.

"They're on the roof! We've got to evacuate the safehouse and get N-11 to the chopper!" Zero shouted.

"I've got him!"

"Ivan, you're with me, Kallen, and Tamaki!"

In the hallway of the safehouse, three enemy commandos roped in from the roof, but then one of them pulled his pistol out and shot his comrades in the head before putting his weapons away and taking his helmet off, revealing the face of a boy with brown hair and violet eyes.

"I don't know why you decided to betray the Britannians now, but you're gonna have to go with us if you want to survive." Zero said to the boy.

"My name's Rolo Haliburton. I'll be fighting for the Black Knight now." the boy said before he put his helmet back on and pulled out his assault rifle. He then opened the door and went down the stairs before Zero and Ivan did so as well. It was then that Ivan and Rolo were introduced to Kallen and Tamaki, both of whom wore the uniform of the Black Knights and a red headband. As the five of them headed into the courtyard, the PMC soldiers and the Black Knights continued to hold back the Britannians.

Meanwhile on the Avalon, Suzaku and Schneizel were watching the situation on the ground from the bridge.

"Dammit! Rolo turned traitor on us now, of all times!" Suzaku shouted as he banged his clenched right fist on his chair as he viewed Rolo's betrayal from a dead commando's helmet camera.

"The situation is still salvageable, Knight of Seven. We just need to find that Knightmare Jammer and take it out, then we can use our Knightmare Frames and easily rout the enemy." Schneizel said with a calm look on his face.

"You think now would be a good time to deploy one of them?"

"Aye." Schneizel said before he transmiteed, _"Air Battalion, deploy SR-02 'Angel' Spy Plane #024453."_

_"Roger that."_ the commander of the Air Battalion remarked as a Britannian Spy Plane took off. Meanwhile, the safehouse had been cleared and Zero, Kallen, Rolo, Tamaki, and Ivan saw civilians running away as they exited through the front gate while the rest of the PMC troops except Harsha and N-11 and Black Knights evacuated the safehouse another way.

"Hold fire! Civilians!" Zero commanded. Down the street to the left, Britannian soldiers were firing on the civilians and managed to kill some of them. The four Black Knights and Ivan began to engage and noticed a car crash onto the side of the road.

"Watch the balconies! Harsha, hang back and protect N-11! Ivan, doorway to the right!"

Ivan aimed and fired his AK-47 to the right and killed a Britannian commando as he advanced with the Black Knights. At the corner of the road, a transport copter stopped to drop more commandos, but it was shot down by evacuating PMC troops after only two disembarked and later crashed in a nearby street where no fighting was occurring.

"Machine gunner on the balcony! Coud you take him out?!" Kallen shouted.

Ivan opened fire and killed a commando operating a heavy-duty machine gun mounted on a balcony but when the position was downed, the three remaining VTOL Gunships began opening fire on the streets, prompting the Black Knights plus Ivan to take cover inside the buildings. Before the gunships could make another pass, one of them was shot down by PMC soldiers that had evacuated the safehouse and the other two had to scatter.

"The chopper's this way!" Tamaki shouted as he led the Black Knights and Ivan down an alley on the left.

_"The weapons are in a building directly ahead!"_ Harsha transmitted as everyone came across a closed gate where a large group of Britannian commandos were firing at the four Black Knights plus PMC soldier from behind said gate.

_"There's too many of them between us and the chopper! Harsha, we need that Unmanned Ground Vehicle now!"_ Rolo transmitted.

_"You're almost there! Go through the building!"_

"Ivan, this way! Kallen, Tamaki, Rolo, remain in cover!" Zero commanded as he and Ivan entered a house on the right. Back on the Avalon, Suzaku was viewing what the launched Spy Plane was seeing when it was suddenly shot down. Before the 'LOST' message appeared, the Knight of Seven saw a strange looking tower about 250 kilometers away from the enemy safehouse.

"Knight of Seven, what is that?" Schneizel asked.

"We have to assume it's the Knightmare Jammer. Unfortunately it seems that hostile Anti-Aircraft systems are protecting it. There's also something worrying that the Spy Plane saw a few seconds before it saw the jammer and was subsequently downed." Suzaku said before pushing a button and bringing up an image of a Raikou preparing to fire. However, the Raikou had a metal sphere placed on the business end of its barrel.

"What the heck is that thing on the Raikou?!"

"I don't know, but whatever it is can't be good!"

Inside the basement of a small house, Zero grabbed a crowbar and opened a large wooden crate in the middle of the room that had the number 526 on it, revealing a UGV assault drone.

"Unmanned Ground Vehicle. 2 centimeter armor plating, mounted mini-gun, and grenade launcher. Controls are going to be in Russian. Ivan, you're up." Zero said.

The ex-Russian got onto the computer controlling the UGV and turned it on. The monitor began displaying the UGV feed and it read, '[SISTEMA ZAGRUZKI]' - ('[СИСТЕМА ЗАГРУЗКИ]' - '[LOADING SYSTEM]').

_"Harsha, what's N-11's condition?"_ Zero transmitted.

_"We've got to get him out of here!"_ Harsha transmitted.

"Ivan, clear a path to the chopper! We'll be right behind you!" Zero shouted as he lifted up the garage door. On the Avalon, Schneizel's blood ran cold as he saw a garage door open and a vehicle with a mounted mini-gun and grenade launcher rolled out. The mini-gun began to spool up and then it opened fire, killing all of the Britannian commandos behind the closed gate.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Schneizel asked.

Suzaku did a thermal scan on the vehicle and said, "It has to be an Unmanned Ground Vehicle! Judging by its specs, it's a Russian-made unmanned weapon that can take on tanks and helicopters just as easily as it can destroy foot soldiers!"

"U- Unmanned!? Does that mean nobody's inside it!?"

"Unfortunately so."

Back with the UGV, it went down a hill and was destroying concrete pillars and barriers that Britannian commandos were taking cover behind. It turned left at the bottom and began engaging enemies on the balconies of a three-floor building. As it moved forward, a VTOL Gunship and two transport copters appeared with the intent of destroying the evacuation chopper, but the UGV shot them down quickly and resumed engaing Britannian commandos on the ridge.

_"Ivan, we're moving up! Keep them pinned down!"_ Zero transmitted as the UGV arrived at the evacuation chopper. A large group of hostiles appeared along with the last VTOL Gunship, but the enemy copter was shot down by the UGV as it cleared the area. Zero, Kallen, Tamaki and Rolo covered Harsha as he brought N-11 to the chopper.

"We're at the chopper now! Loading N-11 in!" Zero shouted.

"He's not looking good." Harsha said.

The Avalon unleashed a missile and it disabled the UGV, knocking it over as the fuzzed camera saw the airship in the sky.

The Raikou charged up energy and then fired, launching the sphere towards the Avalon. When it was about four hundred meters above the airship, the sphere split open and revelaed a large Chaos Mine that opened up and unleashed a massive hail of shrapnel onto the Avalon. The ship's Blaze Luminous shields were raised as Suzaku saw it coming, but the raining shrapnel ultimately proved to be too much for them to handle as only a few seconds after the shields were raised, their color changed from green to yellow to orange and finally red until they were broken by the sheer amount of shrapnel being unleashed and it proceeded to inflict an extremely heavy amount of damage on the Avalon as an officer exclaimed, "Charlie Foxtrot!" Suzaku got up after the shrapnel ceased to come and shouted, "Officer, status report!"

"The Avalon has been severely damaged! Ship integrity is at thirteen percent right now!" a bridge officer reported.

Schneizel then ordered, "Everyone, we're getting the hell outta here!" as something appeared on the display.

"What the fuck!?" an officer said.

"How is that possible!?" another one asked.

"We're all gonna die!" a third panicked.

"That- that was a Chaos Mine! But how- How did the Black Knights create one so large and powerful!?" Suzaku shouted as the Avalon retreated.

Back on the ground, Ivan had made it back to the chopper and got onboard as it began to take off and escape.

"Ivan's onboard." Harsha said calmly.

"Good, we'll need him. We're abandoning this safehouse." Zero said.

"Who the fuck's Ivan?" N-11 asked.

"Huh? Th- That voice! Is it you? Naoto-Nii-Sama!?" Kallen wondered in a happy tone.

"Wh- what? Is- is that you, Kallen?"

* * *

**A/N: And what do we know, N-11 turns out to be Kallen's brother Naoto. Next time, more of the Chinese Federation. Also, as for what the PMC uniform looks like, it's basically the clothes worn by the multiplayer model of a Delta Force soldier from Modern Warfare 3.  
**


	3. Forbidden City or Idiotic Negotiating?

Vermillion Forbidden City, Chinese Federation, March, 2018.

It was quite a surprise for Odysseus to find out that Tianzi had found out about the Britannian Empire's attempt to neutralize the Black Knights and her response was to call off the marriage as soon as the Crown Prince of Britannia had arrived. Of course, Schneizel was still furious that a Raikou had managed to severely damage his flagship by using what Camelot now called a Mega Chaos Mine instead of regular ammunition even though he had also been declared 'Persona Non Grata' in the Chinese Federation. Ordinarily, the Blaze Luminous shielding system could stop attacks from even a Gloucester, but it had proved ineffective against such a large Chaos Mine and worse, the Mega Chaos Mine used Sakuradite-Enhanced shrapnel. Even now, four months since the Skirmish at Himichal Pradesh, the Avalon was still being repaired.

The Mega Chaos Mine is a much larger variation of the standard Chaos Mine, being launched from a Raikou instead of thrown by an ordinary Knightmare. Due to its size and the liquid Sakuradite inside, the shrapnel content and firepower of a Mega Chaos Mine is equal to that of 100 Sakuradite-Enhanced Chaos Mines. It is extremely powerful and can lay waste to entire Mobile Battalions and airships, but its use is limited against single targets unless unleashed at close range. Only the Black Knights use the Mega Chaos Mine as a Raikou artillery cannon is required to fire its spherical container to where it can inflict the most damage. The Mega Chaos Mine is also very sensitive to Oxygen and will unleash its shrapnel once it is released from its container.

At a negotiations table in the Empress's residence sat a Britannian diplomat, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Tianzi, Zheng Na, Li Xingke, and Tamaki. They were busy discussing the Skirmish at Himichal Pradesh and at the moment, things were going absolutely nowhere. Tamaki had been quite adamant in believing that the Britannians were planning to invade the Chinese Federation and that the attempt to neutralize the Black Knights had only been a prelude to the main invasion.

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about. The Empire is not considering invasion of the Federation." the diplomat said.

"Bullshit! The Britannian troops that were fought by the Black Knights at the Himichal Pradesh safehouse, including me, were all Special Forces! The only reason we're even alive is because radar had picked them up long before their arrival and we set up a proper defense!" Tamaki yelled at the diplomat.

Meanwhile in another room, Naoto was busy reading with Kallen while negotiations were occurring. Honestly, he was sure that they would break down before the end of the day and Britannia would get a war coming. After he had his injuries patched up at another safehouse, Naoto had told Kallen that during the botched mission that had gotten him 'killed' in the past, he had ducked out at the last minute and sent a body double to lead the resistance cell for that mission. He had broken down and considered himself a coward afterward because he couldn't tell anyone or else his cover would have been blown. After making the Britannians believe that he was dead with the body double, Naoto had gotten onto a small motorboat and fled to the Chinese Federation. He had immediately joined the PMC and served in it up to when the Skirmish at Himichal Pradesh occurred.

Naoto was now a member of the Black Knights, but he and Kallen weren't on speaking terms until Febuary. That was when her aloofness was replaced with relief that her brother was still alive. Kallen had told Naoto on what had happened with the resistance cell since his body double died. Naoto was pleased to hear that Kallen had continued to attend Ashford Academy up until the SAZ massacre while putting up a 'sickly girl' act while helping the resistance cell, even when Zero had taken control.

While wandering through Shanghai, C.C. had made it a point to keep a low profile and had managed to figure out that trouble was brewing at the Forbidden City. She had a lot of things to think about and decided that she should find Lelouch when he had mysteriously disappeared along with all of the Black Knights. She knew that he was alive, even though a public television broadcast sent by Diethard Ried had convinced many people otherwise by showing someone who looked like Lelouch Lamperouge being executed by the Black Knights on the charge of 'being a Britannian spy.' Once at the Vermillion Forbidden City two days later, C.C. had been told by Kallen and Tamaki that Zero would arrive in two more days as his presence was required for a war council that Tianzi was gathering. Apparently Tianzi was going to declare war on Britannia now that the time that the Black Knights had left Britannia alone for had passed and she needed every good strategist in the Federation on the war council, including Harsha and Zero.


	4. War Council

Vermillion Forbidden City, Chinese Federation, March, 2018.

Today was the day that the war council would meet. Tianzi, Tohdoh, Zero, Harsha, Xingke, Naoto, Taizo Kirihara, C.C, and Kaguya Sumeragi were all present inside the same room where the Britannian diplomat had tried to tell everyone that Britannia was focused on destroying the Black Knights only to be told off by Tamaki that Britannia wouldn't hesitate to make China proper another Area. Right now, all of Britannia's diplomatic personnel had been kicked out of the Federation and a wartime atmosphere was in the air. Many ordinary citizens were calling for the blood of Britannia and Tianzi would not deny them. Military recruitment skyrocketed and the independence movement in the Militarized Zone of India dissipated with many of its members wanting to fight the Britannian Empire. When C.C. came to help with the war delegation, she called herself Celenia Cornwallis, which worked since Zero know that it was not her real name.

"Everyone, please settle down. We are here to discuss strategy for the upcoming war with the Holy Empire of Britannia." Tianzi said.

"We will need to keep tabs on the enemy's Knightmare Frame developments. I fear that the situation is not the same as it was seven months ago." Zero spoke.

"How is Rakshata's work coming along right now?" Tohdoh asked.

"She'll have a new revolutionary airship developed within three weeks in addition to her current Knightmare projects. The components have been difficult to create and stabilize, but I can trust that the Susanoo will have been completed in seventeen days. On another note, Naoto, do we have any new information on the Britannians right now?"

"Yes, but it is also worrying. An organization called the Geass Order is based within the Chinese Federation. Rolo told the Black Knights about this information after he defected from the Britannians, so it is likely that the Empire controls the Order. Before we can even begin to prepare to invade Area Eleven and grab the world's largest Sakuradite supply, we need to deal with this domestic problem before it becomes our downfall." Naoto said.

"Duly noted. Unless our home base is secure, it would be foolish to attack our homeland." Taizo noted.

"However Zero, when we do launch our invasion of Area Eleven, what will happen to any members of the Imperial Family that our forces capture?" Kaguya asked.

"They will be interrogated first and then killed once we have extracted all information out of them if Second Prince Schneizel is among our captives. Schneizel is a family man, so if we can't capture him, we'll kidnap any other Princes and Princesses to get to him and make him lose his cool. This especially holds true for a certain exiled prince who was executed by us and a certain blind and crippled princess." Zero answered.

"The translation of what Zero just said is that Schneizel really cares about Princess Nunnally, so if we capture her he will do anything to rescue her." Celenia added.

"On the bright side, if we do capture Princess Nunnally I'll be able to see her again!" Kaguya said cheerfully.

"Wait, does that mean that you have met her before, Kaguya?" Zero asked.

"Pretty much. She can be quite a handful since the other members of the now defunct Six Houses of Kyoto have had to appease Miss Kaguya and accept any and all of her demands." Taizo answered.

"The Navy and Knightmare forces of Britannia are the greatest threat to of Chinese Federation bar none. Sure, we could use jamming towers to stop enemy Knightmares, but the Navy's a whole different story. Dealing with them will require a different strategy." Xingke said.

"And my loyal soldiers in the PMC have been itching for another fight with the Britannians for quite awhile." Harsha added.

Very well, do we have any commanders who have had experience fighting at sea?" Tianzi asked.

Xingke's hand shot upward and the young Empress said, "It has been decided that Xingke shall lead our naval forces once we are ready to attack Area Eleven. Before we attack though, Zero will lead the Black Knights and with them attack the Geass Order. We were all told about this power from Zero himself and he also said that the Emperor of Britannia himself possesses Geass. Judging by Zero's own words and other information, the Geass Order is a far greater threat than the Britannian forces currently in Area Eleven. Zero, Harsha, Tohdoh, Celenia, and Taizo shall command the ground troops. Kaguya and I shall command the newly-formed Home Guard army in the event of a Britannian attack on the Federation. I now hereby declare this war council disbanded."


	5. Capturing the Directorate

"Lelouch."- speaking

_'Shit.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Sanctuarty of the Geass Order, Chinese Federation, March, 2018.

_"This is Hunter Team One. We're in position."_ a Black Knight transmitted.

_"Hunter Team Two is ready. Your call, Zero."_ Naoto transmitted.

_"All personnel, the mission is a go. Eliminate all hostile Geass users and then gather up near the Thought Elevator. Your Knightmare Frames for this operation are unique Sutherlands that have specialized equipment that will single out enemy Geass users, making it easier for us to complete our mission while minimizing civilian casualties. If the Order is any indication as to their goals, their senior members will attempt to intervene. Hunter Team Three, your objective is to eradicate any Geass Order members that you find. Zero out."_ Zero transmitted before his radio fell silent.

It was relatively easy to find and kill the Geass users that were amongst the civilians due to the specialized equipment that was on the Black Knights' Sutherlands. Furthermore, no enemy Knightmares apart from a few modified Glasgows painted in the colors of the Order were present. All in all, it took only five minutes for the Black Knights to annihilate the Geass Order's members and the Geass users that had been created. Once everyone had gathered at the Thought Elevator, Zero got out of his specialized Sutherland and Rolo exited after him.

_"All personnel, watch the entrance of the Thought Elevator for any suspicious activity. I'm going inside with Rolo."_ Zero transmitted before turning his radio off.

"You sure that we can pull this off?" Rolo asked.

"If we had no chance of winning, then we would not have bothered coming here." Zero answered as the two of them walked in.

Meanwhile in Pendragon, V.V. had finished giving a report to Charles zi Britannia about the Ragnarok Connection. The Emperor said, "Well, all that matters now is to find the last Thought Elevator and then we just need C.C. and we can bring forth a world without lies."

V.V.'s radio suddenly started buzzing and he pulled it up to his right ear and asked, _"Jeremiah, what is it?"_

_"Lord V.V, the Geass Order's been overrun! I was almost captured by the Black Knights!"_ Jerremiah transmitted.

_"What's the status of all of our Geass soldiers?"_

_"I'm sorry, my lord. The Geass soldiers are all dead. The Black Knights must have had something in their Knightmares to help them single out our trump cards and kill them. Aside from that traitor Rolo, Alice is still alive since she wasn't here at the Sanctuary when the Black Knights attacked."_

_"Don't worry. We can replace our losses. We'll just have to find a new location."_

_"I hear you. The enemy was totally focused on destro-"_ Jeremiah was interrupted by gunfire that V.V. could hear through the radio and then the disgraced Margrave said, _"Dammit, I've been exposed! How did-"_ and then all V.V. heard was static.

"Jeremiah, do you read me? Jeremiah, come in! Jeremiah? Jeremiah!" V.V. shouted as his face threatened to bring tears and then said, "We've lost the Geass Order, brother. The Black Knights found the Sanctuary in the Chinese Federation and captured it."

"Damn it. We'll have no choice but to declare war on the Federation and render it another area just to reclaim the Thought Elevator there. Anyway, Schneizel is beginnning war preparations as we speak, so we might be able to avenge our fallen comrades who died protecting the Sanctuary." the Emperor said.

Meanwhile in the Black Knights base, Jeremiah was bound to a chair by several chains inside a small room and then Tamaki came in holding a power drill in his hands and said, "Bad luck for you, Mr. Margrave! We're here to interrogate you and we can either do this the easy way or the hard way! Come on, you Darwinistic dog, which will it be!?"

Jeremiah thought to himself as he mentally prepared himself for a torture session, _'Fuck, this is going to be a very long day for me.'_


	6. Convoluted Planning

"Lelouch."- speaking

_'Shit.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Former Japanese Liberation Front base command center, Narita Mountain, April, 2018.

"Okay, so we've set up in here and have the entirety of the former base under our control. The issue now is to make sure that no Britannian forces find this site and attack it before we're ready." Zero said.

"You have that right, Zero. Besides, until we can confirm that Rei can make it through to us, we're on our own." Tohdoh noted.

"Rei can read minds, and just like how my Geass doesn't work on Celenia Cornwallis, Rei is incapable of reading her thoughts. How long did he say until he gets here?"

"About two more days. Also, we've received unconfirmed reports that the Emperor himself will be arriving in Area Eleven at the end of the month along with the Crown Prince, Odysseus."

_'Fuck! This will complicate things later!'_ Zero thought to himself before he said, "Please verify theose reports before we make our next move. Also, how is Xingke doing right now on Hokkaido?"

"He's managed to push back several attempts by Britannian forces to retake the island. Although our raid on the Advanced Special Envoy Enginerring Corps was successful, Cornelia has managed to create a beachhead for a possible counterattack on the Chinese Federation near Shanghai. The Home Guard forces are putting up a tough fight, but the Knight of Seven is using the recently-repaied Avalon to help her hold out until reinforcements can arrive. In the meantime, Taizo and Harsha have been holding onto Kyushu."

Zero knew that Rei would be useful as an ally, but his ability to read minds was a Geass attributed to someone that he could not remember. Then again, C.C. had not yet been given the opportunity to restore Zero's memories as Lelouch. Thinking back on Rolo, Zero was aware that Haliburton had no Geass despite the fact that he had told them about the Order and its base in the Sanctuary, now controlled by the Black Knights. Aside from Rolo, every last member of the Geass Order except for a young girl had been killed during the Black Knights' assault. That girl, Zero found out, was named Alice and according to information that Jeremiah had, she was the personal Knight of Viceroy Nunnally.

When the Chinese Federation had launched their new invasion of Area Eleven, the Black Knights had already weakened the defenses of important military targets on both the Hokkaido and Kyushu Island, aiding the Chinese troops in taking them. The Susanoo, which had been completed only one week ago, had proved to be insturmental in defeating the defense forces on Kyushu. The ship was created with advanced defenses that rendered it immune to regular weapons and even Hadron Blasts and Radiation weapons wouldn't hurt it. Even better, it used two Druid Systems for its power, with one of them for the ship's security systems and engines while another one handled weaponry and radar.

Meanwhile near Kyoto, Rei had just evaded a patrolling squadron of Gloucesters in a white-painted one that he was piloting and began his journey to Narita. Apparently Zero would be there along with Celenia Cornwallis. Rei's mind went back to when he had been called Mao, specifically after he had recovered from being shot by the police. It was after he had escaped that Lelouch had approached Mao and convinced him to go through with a ridiculously convoluted plan to make C.C. believe that he was dead.

The plan detailed that somone who looked like Mao would attempt to kidnap Lelouch's sister Nunnally and hold her underneath Ashford Academy and Lelouch would entertain the body double by playing along with whatever weird idea that the double decided on while the real Mao escaped to Mongolia. Once in Mongolia, Mao was to keep a low profile until a figure named Zero parleyed with then-Viceroy Cornelia to allow the Black Knights to leave Area Eleven. Using the relative calm that would be in that location for six months, Mao would then sneak back into Area Eleven and keep to the countryside until the Chinese Federation declared war on the Holy Britannian Empire. Mao was tempted to not agree when Lelouch said that it was the first half of the plan, but Lelouch mentioned that so long as Emperor Charles zi Britannia lived, the orphan could not live in peace with C.C. Lelouch then explained that although he had commited many sins, they were small stuff compared to the numerous atrocities that the 98th Emperor of Britannia had committed.

As to the second half of the plan, after the Chinese Federation declared war on Britannia, Mao was to make contact with the Black Knights and join them as a spy. His duties were to spy on Britannian military officials and relay any important Intel back to the Black Knights until Kyushu and Hokkaido had been invaded. After the two islands were captured, Mao was to act as a Knightmare pilot for the Black Knights. Lelouch said that to Mao that if he agreed, he could be with C.C. forever in Australia. It was a ridiculously convoluted plan that Lelouch expected Mao to say no to, but the orphan surprisingly agreed to it all, even when Lelouch said that while in the Black Knights, C.C. was to be referred to as Celenia Cornwallis while Mao himself was called Rei.

Rei was shaken out of his reverie when he heard a radio transmission that said, _"We have reason to suspect that Rei was seen in this area. All teams, be on the lookout for a white Gloucester and notify HQ immediately should you see one."_ From the tone of the voice being transmitted, Rei knew that Schneizel was searching for him. Of course, Rei's Gloucester was a unique one equipped with a Chameleon Unit, a stealth system that would allow a Knightmare to blend in with its surroundings.

* * *

**A/N: And now I've made Lelouch/Zero out to be a Manipulative Bastard on par with Mephiles the Dark. Seriously, the whole plan Lelouch set out with Mao was so ridiculously complex that almost anyone who knew would just assume it would fail.**


	7. Subtle Maneuvers and Obvious Ideas

"Lelouch."- speaking

_'Shit.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie/Cellphone

Onboard the Avalon, near the Chinese Federation, April, 2018.

Suzaku was not happy that the Chinese had the gall to invade Area Eleven again during a moment of weakness. _'Why are they insisting on antagonizing Britannia now, even though we were more or less neutral for the past three to four months.'_ he thought as the Avalon launched a third Gloucester. Ten of the darned Knightmares and their pilots had been stationed onboard for the counter-invasion and unfortunately it was not enough for them to turn the tide. Forty Gloucesters had been part of the initial attack force, but over a fourth had been disabled and captured or destroyed by a Chinese Federation unit called the Home Guard. From what little information was obtained, Suzaku knew that his cousin Kaguya was leading some of the Home Guard's forces.

A bridge officer reported, "Sir, more Home Guard Knightmares have arrived at Point Alpha!"

"Have two more pilots launch and head out to clear Point Alpha of all hostiles! We need to hold that location along with Point Bravo so that we have a secure beachhead for the counterattack once Schneizel has Area Eleven under control!" Suzaku ordered.

"Understood, sir!" The officer said before sending an order down to two of the ten Gloucester pilots to move out immediately. While the pilots were getting ready, a report came in from the 7th Imperial naval fleet. It stated that hostile forces that were concentrated on both Kyushu and Hokkaido had anti-ship capabilities and that no counter-invasion force would be arriving in the Chinese Federation due to enemy forces blocking the only two routes leading to the beachhead. The Imperial General leading the fleet recommended abandoning the counter-invasion beachheads and return all forces to Area Eleven. Suzaku hesitated for a few seconds and then turned his radio on before he said, _"Princess Cornelia, what's your status?"_

_"Point Bravo is secure, but more enemy forces are already on their way! Guilford's Knightmare is heavily damaged while myself and nine other pilots can't use our landspinners. How long do we have to hold out for?"_ Cornelia transmitted.

_"I've receive word that we cannot receive reinforcements due to enemy interference! An Imperial General in charge of the 7th fleet recommended that we pull back to Area Eleven and abadon the beachhead positions! We have no choice but to get our revenge on the Chinese at a later time."_

_"I understand. All forces, fall back! We are abandoning this operation!"_ Cornelia said before the transmission was cut.

One of the two pilots that were ready reported in, _"We're ready to launch, Knight of Seven."_

"At ease. We've been ordered to scrap the counter-invasion. We're returning to Area Eleven and you'll be on search duty once we arrive." Suzaku ordered.

_"Who are we looking for?"_ the other pilot asked.

"Area Eleven forces are searching for a white Knightmare believed to be piloted by a member of the Black Knights named Rei. If you see him, notify command immediately."

_"Understood. Sergeant Harvey Cromwell out."_ the first pilot who had been readied said before cutting the transmission.

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, the normal boring stuff of everyday life was occurring. Rivalz had stopped the gambling runs that he and Lelouch used to go on after seeing the Black Knights execute him and instead intensified his efforts to ask Milly out on a date. The blond-haired female and Shirley were all heartbroken by what the Black Knights had done, but they moved on with their lives while Rivalz was shocked. Most importantly, Nina had left school entirely, having been recruited by Prince Schneizel to work on an unspecified project while the honorary member Nunnally had business to handle as Viceroy and had left school as well. With Lelouch gone and Suzaku being a Knight of the Round, Rivalz had taken over the position of Vice President of the Student Council and had adopted the icy personality that Lelouch had while he had the position, leaving the club with no secretary for a few days.

It took a bit of talking, but Milly had managed to get Sophie to join the Student Council and take the position of Secretary. The new meeting was pretty standard as a new budget had to be decided on. It was not something that Shirley wanted to work on, but Rivalz insisted that Milly's GUTS antic was no longer as effective as it used to be since Lelouch was gone and so the blue-haired Cardemonde boy made the budget the first thing to handle whenever the Student Council met for the first time on any month during the year. It proved to be a smart move as none of the other clubs bothered them at all.

It was when the meeting was over that Rivalz went up to the roof and called a certain number. It took a few seconds before a voice on the other end said, _"Is that you, Cadmod?"_

"Yes it is, Risa. The freighter is already heading for Tokyo Bay. Last I checked, it was going into the Bering Strait." Rivalz said while covering his mouth with his hand.

_"Any idea on what the Student Council is doing?"_

"In about five days we'll be taking a field trip to the Area Eleven administration building. Everyone is still unaware that HE is alive. I won't tell anyone about our little secret, so you don't have to worry about that."

_"Good call, Cadmod. I'd have to fucking kill you if you spill the beans to anyone. Good luck, Cadmod. Risa out."_

"I'll be careful. Cadmod out." Rivalz said before he hung up. He thought to himself as he left the grounds of the academy, _'Lelouch, Kallen, I will want answers from the two of you once we capture Nunnally.'_


	8. Crew Expendable

"Lelouch."- speaking

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie/Cellphone

Inside the Black Knights' Submarine, somewhere near the Bering Strait, April, 2018.

Zero sighed as he analyzed the data that had been obtained from Rei when he showed up at the Narita base. Apparently some new weapon was being transported to Area Eleven via a sea ship from a shipping company that had been infiltrated by undercover French forces disguised as Britannian soldiers and Kallen, while using the alias Risa, had found out from a sleeper agent named Cadmod that a cargo freighter was transporting the weapon. The two pieces of intelligence matched up perfectly, too perfectly for Zero's tastes.

"So before we set out, let's go over this one more time: The package is onboard a medium freighter. Britannian registration number 68332. There is a small crew and undercover French forces onboard." Zero reiterated.

"Correct. The Britannian Empire has created a new weapon and the European Union wants a piece of it." Kallen said.

"Rules of engagement, Zero?" Ivan asked.

"Crew expendable. The GIGN won't reveal themselves until the deck's been cleared since there are regular Britannian soldiers onboard in addition to the undercover French forces." the leader of the Black Knights answered.

"So how are we getting onto the boat?" Ohgi asked.

"We'll be using a stolen Britannian transport helicopter to rappel onboard."

* * *

_"Base, this is Nobunaga Six-Three. We have visual on the target. E.T.A. is about sixty seconds."_ the Black Knight flying the transport helicopter transmitted.

"_Copy, Six-Three."_ An officer from the Black Knights' Submarine transmitted.

The helicopter carried Zero, Kallen, Naoto, and a four-man squadron composed of Tamaki, Inoue, Sugiyama, and Ohgi as it flew towards the cargo ship.

_"Thirty seconds. Going dark."_ the transport helicopter pilot transmitted as the copter flew alongside the ship.

_"Ten seconds. Radio check. Go to secure channel."_ Everyone got ready and that meant putting on their gas masks and pulling out their weapons, which were all suppressed AK-47s.

"Lock and load." Zero ordered. After ten seconds passed, the helicopter had reached the bridge and main deck of the ship.

_"Green light! Go! Go! Go!"_ the helicopter pilot transmitted as Zero, Kallen, and Tamaki fast-roped down from the transport copter, landing on the main deck and outside of the bridge with a few crew members inside.

"Weapons free." Zero ordered as he, Kallen, and Tamaki opened fire and killed the bridge members.

_"Bridge secured."_ Tamaki transmitted.

"Hold your fire! Naoto- stay on the bird till we secure the deck, over." Zero ordered.

_"Roger that."_ Naoto transmitted as Zero kicked open the bridge door. Kallen and Tamaki made their way in and down the stairs with him.

"Squad on me! Stairs clear." Zero said quickly as they reached the bottom and saw a drunken crew member. The unfortunate man didn't notice them and said, "Drink to health, Colonel. . . hic!" and hiccuped before Tamaki killed him.

"Last call; bottoms up. Hallway clear!" Zero declared as the three of them entered the crew's quarters and killed two sleeping crew members.

"Sweet dreams; sleep tight." Tamaki said ironically.

"Crew quarters clear. Move up." Zero ordered as they went out onto the deck.

"Forward deck is cleared! Green light on alpha, go!" the copter pilot transmitted as Naoto, Ohgi, Inoue, and Sugiyama grouped up on Zero after rappelling down from the helicopter. Naoto said, "Ready, sir." And then Zero said, "Fan out. Three meter spread." as the seven Black Knights moved up the ship. Upon seeing two crew members with flashlights on patrol on a platform Naoto said, "Got two on the platform."

"I see 'em." Zero said as everyone approached the platform and then said, "Weapons free."

Tamaki killed them both with suppressed AK-47 fire and Kallen said, "Targets neutralized." Upon reaching the end of the ship crew members on the second floor began to engage the Black Knights.

"We've got company." Naoto remarked.

_"Nobunaga Six-Three, we've got tangos on the second floor."_ Zero transmitted.

_"Roger, engaging."_ the helicopter pilot transmitted as the machine sprayed its mini-gun across the floor, killing all hostiles that were on the second floor.

"Inoue, Tamaki, Ohgi, cover our six. The rest of you, on me." Zero ordered.

"Roger that." Ohgi said.

As Ohgi, Tamaki, and Inoue stayed behind to watch for enemy crew members, the others stacked up at a doorway and then Naoto pulled out a W2100 shotgun and said, "I like to keep this for close encounters."

"Too right, Naoto-san." Sugiyama said.

"On my mark- go." Zero ordered as he opened the door and went inside with Kallen, Naoto, and Sugiyama following him. As they went through the ship's interior, they found several dead crew members and a few dead Britannian soldiers. In the last room Naoto got a strong reading coming from one of the crates at the end of the room and said, "I'm getting a strong reading, sir. You might want to take a look at this."

As the four Black Knights gathered in front of the crate, three men dressed as Britannian soldiers but not wearing the helmet approached them and one of them stepped in front of his comrades and said, "Did you see our handiwork on your way to this crate, Zero?"

"Aye, you guys eliminated the opposition that we would have faced down here. The GIGN do not normally operate so far away from home, but you know that Schneizel has taken it from you." Zero said.

"And we shall work with you to get it back. I am Sabre and these two are Faucon and Démon. I lead these men as I am their commander."

"It's good to meet you guys. Anyways, how are you all going to get off the ship?"

"We seized the lifeboats and plan on going with you guys in case Britannia does something funny. If nothing happens, we stay on the ship and land in Tokyo Bay, disguised as to not draw suspicion."

Naoto opened the crate and immediately Zero turned around and saw that the crate contained a bed that was being occupied by a girl with pink hair. A royal guard who was asleep was lying next to the bed, clothed in a pink-colored uniform, a small box laying at his feet. Zero removed his helmet and asked, "How is this possible!? How is Third Princess Euphemia li Britannia alive?"

Euphemia stirred before waking up and asked, "Who are you people? Where am I?"

"We're onboard a cargo freighter en route to Area Eleven and while I, Zero, am the leader of the Black Knights, Sabre, Faucon, and Démon are from the GIGN." Zero said with complete honesty.

"Wh- what!? I don't understand what you are saying, Lelouch. Can you please tell me what's going on?"

The royal guardsman stirred before getting onto his feet and noticed everyone and said, "You guys outnumber me, so I'll talk. I'm actually not a member of the Royal Guard. In truth, I am a member of the Office of Secret Intelligence or as commoners call it, the OSI. We secretly grabbed Euphemia's corpse after she died and after repairing her wounds, we had somehow managed to get her heart going again. However, she had been dead for about seven minutes and as a result she does not remember anything from the past eleven years as she has suffered extensive brain damage."

"So that's why Euphemia's alive right now." Kallen said.

"Anyways, I am your prisoner now. Do what you will with me, Zero. I have weapon blueprints on my person, but the weapon itself is inside the small box." the OSI man said.

"Sugiyama, can you grab that box? Kallen, Naoto, you two should restrain that man. Euphemia, you're coming with us." Zero said.

Zero watched as Sugiyama picked up the small box and got out of the crate as the Kozuki siblings cuffed the man and led him away and then walked over to Euphemia's bed and picked her up before walking out of the crate and carrying the Third Princess bridal style. _"Nobunaga Six-Three, what's your status?"_ he transmitted.

_"I just picked up Kallen, Naoto, their prisoner, and Tamaki. I'll come back to extract you and everyone else in three minutes. I'm sorry, but I'm currently at bingo fuel and must return to the submarine or risk crashing." _the helicopter pilot transmitted._  
_

_"That's alright. Base, anything going on?"_

_"Two Britannian aircraft are heading your way fast! Has the weapon been secured?"_ the submarine officer transmitted.

_"Aye, I have it. Zero has also found and captured Euphemia li Britannia, who is believed to have died in the SAZ massacre eight months ago."_ Sugiyama transmitted.

_"Understood. Enemy aircraft will be in striking distance of the freighter in three minutes. Use that time to get above deck."_

"Alright everyone, we need to get onto the deck very soon. Sabre, how many of your men are on the ship?"

"I've got thirty troops, not counting myself and my two comrades."

"Tell them to get on the ship's deck ASAP! Britannian aircraft are rapidly approaching!" Zero shouted.

"Understood." Sabre said as he left with Faucon and Démon. Zero himself maintained a steady jog back to the deck. Once there, Ohgi and Inoue were waiting as was Sabre. "My men have already left the ship. I'm the only GIGN man still onboard now." he said.

_"One minutes until enemy aircraft are in striking distance of the ship."_ the submarine officer transmitted.

_"Nobunaga Six-Three, status?"_ Zero transmitted.

_"I'm on my way. Currently at 25% fuel and ETA is forty-five seconds."_ the helicopter pilot transmitted.

_"Bollocks, you need to double time it! I've got an Imperial Princess in our hands and if the Emperor is any indication, he'll sacrifice her and the entire ship just to get rid of us!"_

After only thirty five seconds passed, the transport helicopter arrived and Zero got on first while carrying Euphemia. He was then followed by Ohgi, then Inoue, Sugiyama, and finally Sabre. It all took twenty seconds for everyone to get onboard and when the helicopter began to fly away from the ship, it was then that two missiles fired by Britannian jets struck the cargo freighter.

_"Base, this is Nobunaga Six-Three. Package is secure and we are returning to base. Out."_ the helicopter pilot transmitted as the transport copter flew away while the ship sunk.

* * *

**A/N: You guys probably weren't expecting this, but what we have here in this chapter is a Christmas miracle.  
**


	9. Orange Released

"Lelouch."- speaking

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Former Japanese Liberation Front base holding cells, Narita Mountain, April, 2018.

Jeremiah Gottwald really wanted to break out of his cell and find out who Zero was, but at the moment it was completely impossible for him to even move since he was bound to his chair by iron chains. It was mortifying for him since the Black Knights had extracted all important information from the former guardsman after five brutal torture sessions. Worse, Zero never presided over any of them as he often had other business to attend to. The blue-haired guard had been subjected to power drills boring holes into his leg bones, zapped by electrical currents, waterboarding, and even challenged to a drinking game. His captors made a point to not kill him since Zero made it clear that Jeremiah would serve an important role later because of the Geass Canceller in his left eye.

Although Euphemia wasn't tortured, C.C. had restored the Third Princess's memories upon arrival and as a result Zero had her locked within a stasis field in addition to a holding cell just to prevent the pink-haired young woman from killing anyone. The stasis field was being maintained by a stasis field generator receiving energy from a power generator outside the base that was disguised as a boulder so that nobody would suspect anything and the stasis field had Euphemia completely immobilized. Even then, the holding cell that held the Third Princess had been designed so that it was impossible for one person to open it; it required five people entering the door code at the same time. The stasis field was only disabled for fifteen minute intervals every six hours to allow her to eat, drink, and handle personal hygiene. Just to make sure that any Black Knights with loyalty issues held in the holding cells didn't subject Euphemia to prison rape, her holding cell had a personal shower inside.

The door to Jeremiah's cell opened and Tamaki stepped in along with two Black Knights wearing gas masks.

"What is it now? Feeling like subjecting me to another torture session? I already gave you all of the information that I had." The blue-haired guard said.

"Nope. Zero wants to talk to you. He sent me to drag you to the command center. Boys, release his restraints." Tamaki said.

The gas mask-wearing members of the Black Knights proceeded to remove the iron chains and then grabbed Jeremiah before following Tamaki to the command center. Once there, Tamaki said to Zero, "Boss, I've brought you the specified prisoner."

Zero turned around and said, "Very good, Tamaki. Cover his left eye so that he can't use his Geass Canceller."

Tamaki proceeded to cover the covering over Jeremiah's left eye with his left hand so that even if the blue-haired man wanted to, he couldn't use his Geass Canceller. Zero then removed his helmet and said, "Remember this, Orange Boy?"

"N- No way! It- It's you! Lelouch vi Britannia, the only son of late Empress Marianne vi Britannia!" Jeremiah exclaimed, surprised to find that the long-thought to be dead Eleventh Prince was Zero.

"Correct, although to the public at large, Lelouch was executed by the Black Knights for being a spy. Thanks to Diethard Ried, I've convinced most of the world that I am dead by publicly broadcasting a body double of me being executed for espionage. Anyways, I offer you a choice."

"Clearly I can choose to either join your organization or remain with Britannia. If I remain with Britannia, obviously I'll either be executed or remain imprisoned. However, I swore loyalty to Empress Marianne and her children and I place that loyalty above my own oaths to the Empire. Therefore, I will defect from Britannia and join the Black Knights."

"I must leave for two days to check Rakshata's progress on the Shinkiro in ten minutes. Once I leave, you will be allowed full access to the resources of the Black Knights. Please, be aware that you are and will still be restrained until I leave. When I return, I will catch you up to speed on our goals and current situation."

Zero then left the command center and ten minutes later when Tamaki's radio buzzed, he brought it up to his ear with his right hand and said, "This is Tamaki."

_"I've left the base. Jeremiah is no longer to be restrained and his current order from me is to see Princess Euphemia for the purpose of using his Geass Canceller on her. Once he is inside her cell and the door is closed, disable the stasis field so that the Geass Canceller can work its magic."_ Zero transmitted.

"Understood." Tamaki said before cutting the transmission and saying, "Boys, let him go."

The two Black Knights that were holding Jeremiah Gottwald released him and then Tamaki stopped covering the metal cover that shielded Jeremiah's left eye before he said, "Zero's orders for you right now are to head back into the holding cell area and head for where we are holding Princess Euphemia. Once we open the door, head inside her holding cell and wait until the stasis field immobilizing the Princess is disabled. Once the field is down, use your Geass Canceller on Euphemia."

"Okay, but why immobilize Princess Euphemia with a stasis field? Isn't a holding cell enough?" Jeremiah asked.

"Euphemia is currently under the influence of a Geass order that is compelling her to kill any Eleven that she sees, so the stasis field is for our own safety as well as hers. I don't know how it works, but a stasis field also interferes with Geass and anyone who is trapped in one, such as Princess Euphemia right now, cannot be affected by Geass while the stasis field is active, regardless of if the Geass works by eye contact or not. It works both ways too, so if a Geass user is trapped in one, he or she can't use it to break out and I'm sure that the same restriction applies to the Geass Canceller." Tamaki said before telling the blue-haired man about Geass and its effects.

Jeremiah went down to the holding cell area and waited outside of the cell that was holding the Third Princess. There were five members of the Black Knights waiting at five separate wall panels that were all connected to the same door. They saw him and nodded as they entered the door codes at the same time. Upon doing so, the cell door opened and Jeremiah entered it before it closed behind him. Jeremiah then saw that a mysterious blue glow currently surrounded Euphemia. He concluded that it must be the stasis field and waited for it to shut off. Upon doing so, the blue glow shimmered before disappearing and it was then that the metal cover that was over the former guardsman's left eye retreated and revealed an inverted Geass symbol that was blue in color.

The red rings that were around Euphemia's eyes disappeared as they stared directly into the gaze of the Geass Canceller. After they did so, the metal cover reappeared over Jeremiah's left eye and the Third Princess was left in a daze before she said, "Huh? What happened to me?"

"I used my Geass Canceller on you, your highness. Do you remember anything about what you had been ordered to do?"

"Y- Yes. I had been told to kill the Japanese. I- I really didn't want to follow it, but. . . I had no choice but to follow that order." Euphemia said as tears formed in her eyes before she broke down and cried into Jeremiah's chest. Once she was done crying Jeremiah told her, "As it stands right now, we are currently inside the former Headquarters of the Japanese Liberation Front at Narita Mountain. The Black Knights have taken it over and we're using it as our primary base for the time being. According to some of them, Britannia has been abusing its power and those that are unfit to rule are either cast out or crushed underneath the Empire's massive foot."

"And what about the Special Administrative Zone?"

"It failed, your highness. Zero and the Black Knights were left with no choice but to kill you and Cornelia's response was to start getting the military ready to kill Elevens by the hundreds. They never got the opportunity to commit genocide as Zero parleyed with Cornelia and managed to get her to agree to allowing the Black Knights to leave Area Eleven in exchange for not murdering any Elevens that remained in the country. The only ones who stayed in the end were the Honorary Britannians. Everyone else, including the Six Houses of Kyoto, had opted to leave."

After the cell door was opened again, Euphemia was escorted into a small room where Kallen waited and from there further details were explained. Once the two Black Knights were done talking, Princess Euphemia reiterated, "So the Chinese Federation and the Black Knights have joined forces and launched an invasion of Area Eleven?"

"Correct. We currently control both the Kyushu and Hokkaido islands and the Chinese have been fortifying their defenses on the islands while the Black Knights engage the Britannian military in guerrilla warfare here on Honshu. The main focus is on Mount Fuji as there are plans for the Sakuradite mines there to be used as weapons of last resort in case of a successful attack on the Tokyo Settlement by the Empire's enemies. Essentially, Schneizel has been ordered to detonate the Sakuradite mines and render Area Eleven uninhabitable if the Tokyo Settlement cannot be held by Britannian forces. Zero wishes to make sure that such a tactic doesn't work and as a result many of the attacks so far have been in the Mount Fuji area. Quite a few of the mines have been captured and many more have been shuttered because of the fighting, so production has fallen by around 65%. That being said, whenever the Black Knights shut down a mine, they send troops in to conduct a final sweep and dispose of any explosives. Capturing a mine is basically the same thing, but is harder to do since it also requires not damaging or destroying too much of the mining equipment before the final sweep is made." Kallen answered.

"In any case, since you are no longer being influenced by Geass your situation will change. You'll be treated as an honored guest instead of a regular prisoner of war, although you will still not be allowed to leave the base. In all honesty, it's better than what the current Viceroy has to deal with." Jeremiah said to Euphemia.

Meanwhile at the Area Eleven Administration Building, specifically inside the Viceroy's office, Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia sneezed while sitting at her desk and Alice asked her, "Are you alright, your highness?"

"Yes, Alice. However, I feel as if someone is talking about me while I cannot talk to them." Nunnally answered sadly.

"I hope that this doesn't foreshadow any trouble for any of us. The nobility is corrupt enough as it is right now. Next thing I know, they'll try to push in some measure that will let them leech more money away from both the commoners and the Honorary Britannians. On to more pleasant business, in two days we will be hosting a tour of the building that has been put into that day's schedule so that we can show the Student Council of Ashford Academy around for their field trip. The Student Council will be expected to arrive around 10:05 AM, so we need to be ready to greet them at 11:45 when the tour visits the Viceroy's Office."


	10. Fallen Noble: Setup

"Lelouch."- speaking

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie/Cellphone

Black Knights underground research facility, Saitama Ghetto, Tokyo Area, April, 2018.

Rakshata saw Zero enter the room that she inhabited while working and said to him, "I know that you're here to check up on the progress of the Shinkiro. The Ejection System is installed and the Diffusion Structure Phase Transition Cannon has been reworked so that my precious child doesn't have to lower its shields to fire it. Overall, progress is at sixty-five percent."

"Good. Please continue your work so that it will be fully operational once we are ready to attack the Tokyo Settlement." Zero said to the Indian scientist before leaving the room.

As Zero walked down the hallway, he noticed C.C. and motioned for her to follow him and she did so. They stopped in a small room that was across from Rakshata's sleeping quarters and once they were in, Zero said to C.C, "Now is the perfect opportunity."

Zero removed his helmet and the green-haired immortal saw Lelouch's face before she decided to walk up to him and then restored the raven-haired young man's memories. Once Lelouch recovered, he then said, "According to Kallen, the Student Council back at Ashford Academy are going to be visiting the Area Eleven Administration Building tomorrow and she said that during that visit would be the time to execute Operation Fallen Noble. I had her send orders to our sleeper agent in Ashford, Cadmod, and now we just need to get into position and wait."

"Do any other members of the Black Knights know about this?" C.C. asked.

"I had already contacted them and told them about the operation and they agreed to it. Now I ask of you, do you know what Operation Fallen Noble is?"

"No. I do not know what Operation Fallen Noble is supposed to be."

"It is really simple; Operation Fallen Noble has only one objective, and that objective is to kidnap the current Viceroy of Area Eleven. I already know who our target is, and I'm sure that you know who it is as well."

C.C. thought about what Zero was saying for a few moments and then gasped before saying, "You're launching this operation to capture your own sister."

"Exactly, but you know which one, right?"

"Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia, I would hypothesize?"

"Bingo! Now Cadmod should be on his way to get what he needs right now."

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, Rivalz had just finished classes for the day and went to his bike with the intention of riding out to the Shinjuku Ghetto. Upon arrival, he was approached by an old Eleven man and given a heavy handbag that had something inside. Deciding not to ask what the bag's contents were, Rivalz went back to the Academy and placed the bag with the stuff he would be bringing with him during the trip to the Administration Building. It was then that his cellphone rang and he looked at the number and smirked. He then answered, _"This is Cadmod."_

_"I trust that you have all necessary supplies?"_

_"Yes, Zero. The Sleep Gas Satchels were given to me by the old man as Risa had said."_

_"Good. Now then, let's discuss what you need to do tomorrow."_

_"Understood."_ Rivalz said as he and Zero talked over what the blue-haired young man would be doing.

* * *

**A/N: Yep, next chapter is going to be capture time. Hope you people enjoy this one because I now have a computer again!  
**


	11. Operation: Fallen Noble

"Lelouch."- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie/Cellphone

Area Eleven Administration Building, Viceroy's Office, Tokyo, April, 2018.

"And this room is the Viceroy's Office. Feel free to look around and greet the Viceroy, but please be courteous should you choose to speak to her or her assistant." Villetta Nu said as she escorted the Student Council inside the room. Rivalz knew that the Viceroy was currently dealing with paperwork and wouldn't notice unless she was spoken to directly. Knowing this, he saw an inconspicuous pile of things near the door and took a picture of the pile with his camera before planting the last of his Sleep Gas Satchels on the pile. It was disguised as one of the items in the pile so that there was no risk of it being discovered.

Rivalz suddenly felt the urge to go to the bathroom and asked. It was granted, but Villetta herself would escort the young man to the men's room. She followed Rivalz just outside the door to the restroom and as he got into an unoccupied stall, he first did his business and then pulled a gas mask out of his backpack and put it on before his hand pressed a button on a device that was clipped to his uniform. Rivalz then pulled a radio out of his uniform and said, _"This is Cadmod, my orders have been fulfilled. Zero, your orders?"_

_"Assist Team Two is securing the High Value Individual (H.V.I.) and anyone else with her. Zero out."_

_"Roger that. Cadmod out."_ Rivalz said before putting the radio away.

Back in the Viceroy's Office, the Sleep Gas Satchel that Rivalz had planted was releasing an unknown sleeping agent into the air and since Princess Nunnally couldn't see, she was the first person in the room to fall asleep as she sniffed the air upon noticing that it was different than earlier and breathed in the gas. Alice was next and fell asleep before she could wake up her protectee. The sleep gas then knocked out Sophie, Milly, and Shirley. In other rooms within the building, similar satchels were releasing the same gas and it was even being released into the ventilation system of the building. Meanwhile in the garage, Zero and three teams composed of ten members of the Black Knights had gathered and then Zero said, "Alright, let's begin Fallen Noble, Phase Two. Team Three, remain down here and keep any Britannian forces away from our vehicles. Team Two, head for the Viceroy's Office and capture the Viceroy and anyone else with her, then bring them here. Team One, you're on cleaning duty and sweeping for any Britannian forces that are still awake."

As two of the teams left to complete their objectives, Private Brian Walker cursed his luck as he came upon the sleeping form of Villetta Nu. Unlike him, she had not been able to put a gas mask on and was knocked out as a result. The private picked up her body and carried it into a sitting room that didn't have any gas leaking in from either the air vents or out of a satchel before waking her up.

"Where am I, Private?" she asked.

"Sitting room number twenty-three. Unknown terrorists have planted sleep gas satchels throughout the building and even the ventilation ducts are spreading the knockout agent around. Please put your gas mask on and then we need to check up on the Viceroy." Private Walker said before giving the Knight a gas mask. She put it on and then the door burst open and three members of the Black Knights that wore gas masks opened fire and forced both Villetta and Brian to take cover.

"This is One-Six, we have Britannians awake." one of them, obviously a male, said into a radio.

"One-Six, you along with One-Five and Euphie are to pin them down while Team Two completes its objective. Once they are done, fall back to the garage and then return to your vehicle. Two-One out." a voice on the other end said.

"Understood. One-Six out." the Black Knight member said before cutting the transmission. Back at the Viceroy's Office, the ten members of Team Two plus Rivalz had entered the room and Two-One said to the gas mask-wearing sleeper agent, "So you're Cadmod, eh? Well then, consider yourself a member of Team Two now, new designation is Two-Eleven. Grab the Viceroy and follow me back to the garage."

"Yes, sir." Rivalz said before walking over to the sleeping Nunnally and began carrying her with the assistance of Two-Two. Two-Three and Two-Four had grabbed Nunnally's assistant while Milly, Shirley, and Sophie were being carried off by six other members of Team Two, with Two-One not being any of those members. The team then began to head to the garage and it took five minutes to get there. Once inside the garage Zero said, "We should split them up, two for each vehicle. The Viceroy will be with me in Team One's vehicle."

The troop compartments of three BTR-80s opened and Zero pointed to the nearest one and said, "I'll be in there. Cadmod, Two-Two, follow me inside."

* * *

No less than thirty minutes later, Cornelia looked extremely pissed off. She had just reached the security room of the Administration Building and looked at the security footage of when the Black Knights had struck. During the short firefight that had played out near the lobby at 11:50 sharp, one of the Black Knights had removed their helmet and proclaimed herself to be Euphemia li Britannia.

Cornelia thought to herself, _'Euphie is alive!? I can't believe it. Yet why did she join those damned terrorists!?'_ before shaking her head and saying to nobody in particular as she activated the PA system of the building, "Listen up! I, Cornelia li Britannia, am taking over as Viceroy of Area Eleven!"

A Britannian soldier who was in the room silently acknowledged Cornelia and ran off to reiterate her proclamation. Cornelia then went back to where her Gloucester was parked and got in it before booting up the Knightmare's systems. She then said, "Guilford, Darlton, how are you guys?" as her Knights appeared on two separate screens.

"We're both ready to kick ass, your highness!" Guilford said.

"Ready, your highness. What's the situation?" Darlton said.

Cornelia was unaware that Suzaku was listening in on her communication channel from the Lancelot as she said, "The Black Knights have openly declared their hostility to the Empire and have kidnapped Princess Nunnally! Are any units currently in pursuit!?"

"Six VTOL Gunships are currently in pursuit of three suspect vehicles in the Settlement. Forwarding the images to you." Darlton said as he sent pictures of the three BTR-80s to Cornelia's Gloucester.

_'So those are the vehicles, eh? Russian BTR-80 troop transports. Interesting.'_ Cornelia thought to herself before she opened a video channel to the Avalon. Onboard the airship, Schneizel noticed that Cornelia was calling him and opened the channel before saying, "What is it, Cornelia?"

"Requesting permission to take over as Viceroy of Area Eleven, Prime Minister. I'll handle the necessary paperwork later because we have an urgent situation on our hands at the moment."

"What could be so disastrous that Nunnally wouldn't be able to handle it?"

"That's the problem, Schneizel. The Black Knights have kidnapped Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia. Sending you security footage from the Area Eleven Administration Building." Cornelia said before sending the video logs that confirmed the Second Prince's worst fears to the Avalon.

Viewing the security logs, Schneizel knew that Cornelia wasn't lying and said, "You have full authorization to become Viceroy of Area Eleven. Also, it seems that your sister Euphemia is alive. I don't know how or why, but she's joined the Black Knights. If she is spotted, your orders are to capture her."

"I hear you." Cornelia said before cutting the transmission. Meanwhile inside one of the BTRs, which were now rolling down the highway, Alice could hear some of the Black Knights talking as she silently woke up. She then panicked upon realizing that she wasn't with Nunnally and had to be restrained by Ohgi.

"Whoa whoa whoa, ma'am, you need to calm down first." Ohgi said while remaining calm himself. It took about forty-five seconds for Alice to calm down and when she did she asked, "Where is Nunnally?"

"Oh, the Fourth Princess? She's with Zero in another BTR right now." Unfortunately the commotion caused by Alice had woken up the other Britannian captive who was in this BTR. The captive had blond hair and seemed terrified.

"Who are you two anyway? I'm Kaname Ohgi and although you seem worried, I swear my blood that I am not a pedophile." Ohgi said to the two Britannian captives.

"My name is Alice, assistant to Princess Nunnally." Alice spoke up.

"Milly Ashford, President of the Student Council at Ashford Academy. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Ohgi." Milly said with a terrified look on her face.

"Please relax, Ms. Ashford. None of us here are going to kill you. By the way, since you mentioned Ashford Academy, by any chance are you acquainted with Kallen?" Ohgi asked.

"Yes. Before the SAZ massacre, she was an excellent student who had a 4.0 Grade Point Average despite her frequent illnesses. She mysteriously left after the massacre occurred."

"I hate to be the one to break it to you, but that 'sickly girl' Kallen that you know is just an act. She's actually a high-ranking member of the Black Knights. Of course since we captured you, you would figure it out eventually. Still, you and Alice will be our prisoners along with those two other girls that Team Two brought with them when they came back to the garage of the Administration Building."

"What will happen to Nunnally though?" Alice asked.

"She'll be our honored guest and treated fairly. As for you, Milly, and the other two captives, you'll be treated as Prisoners of War (POW's) and held inside holding cells." Ohgi answered.

**A/N: Well, it seems the Black Knights have now stirred up a hornet's nest by kidnapping Nunnally. Next chapter, Suzaku begins to dig into the deep dark secrets of the OSI.**


	12. OSI Infiltration, Part One

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

Office of Secret Intelligence Area Eleven branch headquarters, lobby, Hiroshima, May, 2018.

Suzaku peeked his head out of a ventilation duct and used his infrared goggles to see the laser sensors that were monitoring the floor. Seeing as how he would not be able to traverse the floor safely, the Knight of Seven clung to the wall, aware that there were pressure sensors hidden inside them at specific points as he made his way to the elevator. Once he reached it, Suzaku then pushed the button and heard the elevator door open before he felt his body move on its own into the elevator in such a way that no sensors were set off. He then pushed the button for the B5, the lowest level that the elevator could access and the door closed before the elevator began its descent. Once it stopped, Suzaku immediately got onto the elevator's ceiling before the door opened as he saw a Britannian Sentry Gun unleash a hail of bullets into where the Knight had once been.

Staying on the ceiling as he advanced to the door that was behind the Sentry Gun, Suzaku noticed that the weapon didn't notice him at all, even when the Honorary Britannian sneezed out loud and he was certain that an alarm would have AT LEAST been set off. Yet, an alarm didn't sound when he had sneezed. Suzaku thought that something bad was going to happen to him later because of all the luck he has so far as he went through the door and down a flight of stairs into an ordinary-looking hallway that, upon inspecting with the infrared goggles, was being monitored by motion detectors on the floor AND ceiling. It was thanks to a special body suit that he was wearing right now that Suzaku had been able to even breach this far into the OSI headquarters in Area Eleven.

Clinging onto the walls, Suzaku went down the hallway and reached the door on the other end. Once he went through it, he looked to the right through bullet-proof glass to see a VERY LONG flight of stairs that went down at least ten floors and ahead he saw a door on the right side of the wall. Rushing to the door, he went through only to trip a set of laser sensors that immediately sounded an alarm.

**(www. youtube watch ?v= p1dO7VOqD5s) Author Alert: this here is a broken video link to fitting music for what is going to happen. To listen to the music, which is the music that plays during the chase sequence in Communications Tower A, just type in what is in the parentheses except for the random spaces.**

Three Spec-Ops soldiers armed with Assault Rifles suddenly appeared from the doorway that led to the hall that was covered by motion sensors on both the floor and ceiling and began running towards Suzaku. Naturally, Suzaku assumed that these guys were the type to shoot first and ask questions later. He then noticed that the laser sensors that he had set off couldn't be bypassed at all. Since Suzaku knew that these men were hostile, he did the only thing that was sensible to do in this situation:

Run the fuck away.

He went down the stairs and tossed a flash-bang behind him. Since he was running away, he wouldn't suffer the full effects while his pursuers would be knocked out, only for another three Spec-Ops troops to replace them. Suzaku had to repeat this ten times as he went down the stairs before finding a door at the bottom that led into a hallway that had a four-way intersection. Suzaku left another flash-bang ready as he ran to the right. He found a door and then went inside to find a room full of dead bodies, many of which were just around Suzaku's size, but there were also several that were larger or smaller. Suzaku hid in the corpses and when the Spec-Ops soldiers came in, they began checking the bodies for any sign of Suzaku.

They almost gave up, but then Suzaku sneezed and ran out of the room before the Spec-Ops could react. Heading straight ahead, which meant that from the perspective of coming from the flight of stairs he was going to the left, he found another door and went in, only to find a long straight hallway with nothing decorating it. Running down the length of the hallway, Suzaku went through a door and found himself in a large room with lockers that could fit a grown man inside. Suzaku hid inside one of them and once he did, the Spec-Ops soldiers were searching for the Honorary Britannian again. The Spec-Ops found him this time without a sneeze giving his position away but before they could kill him, Suzaku had a flash-bang ready and knocked out his three pursuers again, if only for a short moment.

Running back to the hallway with the four-way intersection, Suzaku knew that he had not gone down one last path. Retracing his steps, he found the long flight of stairs to his right and upon opening the door found another set of laser sensors that could not be bypassed at all. Suzaku turned his back on that door and went straight. The door led into a hallway that had a T-intersection and the Honorary Britannian went to the left and found himself in another large room full of dead bodies after going through a door. This time when the Spec-Ops soldiers checked the bodies, they never found Suzaku and gave up. As they left, Suzaku knew that the state of alert had been lifted for the time being and exited the room.

**(End music here)**

Back at the T-intersection, Suzaku went to the right and found himself in a high-tech area that would look like Lloyd's laboratory had been increased in size six times over.

'So this is the true face of the Office of Secret Intelligence.' Suzaku thought to himself as he mentally went over his objectives. They were simple:

**Objective 1: Infiltrate the Area Eleven OSI Headquarters in Hiroshima (completed)**

**Objective 2: Find Clara Frank and steal her card key.**

**Objective 3: ****Break into the Data Hive and obtain the confidential Intelligence.**

**Objective 4: Set the bomb and escape to make it look like the Chinese Federation were responsible.**

Suzaku set off aimlessly through the large room, thankful that there were no guards, security cameras, or sensors inside. Meanwhile, Anya Alstreim and Gino Weinberg were on their way to Area Eleven, aware that they were being deployed there because of the recent actions of the Black Knights. Gino in particular was thinking about why only he and Anya were being deployed there when Suzaku was already in the area. It was five minutes until they arrived and both the Mordred and Tristan had been stowed correctly before they had left Pendragon, so the Knight of Three and the Knight of Six wouldn't be immediately sent into combat. They were both shaken out of their thoughts once the plane landed.

At the military Aerodrome in the Britannian Tokyo Settlement, they strode off the plane and were greeted by Cornelia and Schneizel before being escorted into an armored limousine and taken to the garage of the Area Eleven Administration Building. From there Cornelia requested for them to follow her into her office and once there they both took a seat before the Second Princess sat in a chair behind the desk of the Viceroy.

"Alright then, you two are Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim, correct?" Cornelia asked.

"You got it!" Gino said enthusiastically while Anya gave a simple, "Yes, ma'am."

"Welcome to Area Eleven then. You probably know who I am, but just to make sure, I am Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia, General-in-Chief of the army and Viceroy of Area Eleven."

"So I take it that Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia has been replaced by you because of something that happened?" Anya asked.

"You are correct, Anya. However, to be more precise on the situation, I replaced Nunnally as Viceroy because she has been kidnapped by the Black Knights. Even though Alice was with her, they had managed to infiltrate the building and took off with both of them in Russian BTR-80 Armored Personnel Carriers. This information hasn't been released out to the public yet, but I'm sure that many people, mostly the nobility, military, and Imperial Family, are going to be furious about this since it's thrown all of Area Eleven into disarray. Gino, from what I know, you probably intend to enroll into Ashford Academy, do you not?"

"Yes, ma'am. How did you find out?" the Knight of Three asked.

"That is something that I would like to know as well." the Knight of Six said while adjusting her cloak.

"The President of the school's Student Council, Milly Ashford, has been confirmed kidnapped along with fellow Student Council members Shirley Fenette and Sophie Wood. Secure them if reasonably possible, but your top priority is rescuing Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia and her personal Knight, Alice." Cornelia stated.

Anya nodded in agreement while doing something with her phone while Gino said, "Please excuse Anya for using her phone to update her blog right now, Princess Cornelia. Miss Anya doesn't trust her memories and as such maintains a blog whenever anything happens. That being said, don't be surprised to see her doing something completely random and then recording it in her blog afterward. Trust me, she's seen me naked before."

Cornelia noticed that Gino blushed heavily when she heard him say that the Knight of Six had seen him naked in the past and said while blushing heavily, "Well hopefully that doesn't happen to me because I would be absolutely embarrassed if Anya snapped a photo of my private parts and put it on her blog."

"I honestly don't even know what's up with her. One time, she parked a Knightmare inside the barracks I was living in and ended up having to transfer to another one. The worst part of it all was that Anya followed me to my new barracks, so I've never been sleeping in one location for more than a week at most."

Back at the Area Eleven OSI headquarters, Suzaku had just cornered Clara Frank and knocked her out with a single kick to the stomach before shaking her down and stealing her card key. He then turned around and ran up to a corner and peeked around to see the entrance to the Data Hive, the nerve center of the OSI headquarters in Area Eleven. Suzaku knew that each area within the Britannian Empire had a local Headquarters for the Office of Secret Intelligence to operate out of and that each headquarters shared information with each other regarding certain weapons and drug traffickers who were notorious for evading capture, notorious terrorist organizations such as the Black Knights, and the Purist Party's embezzlement of funding for the personal gain of its members. Getting to the Data Hive's entrance took ten minutes, and Suzaku often had to distract guards before knocking them out as well as avoid trap doors and gun cameras, surveillance cameras that were set to kill intruders on sight using a mounted machine gun instead of raising the alarm. At the entrance of the Data Hive, Suzaku noticed a wall panel and swiped the card key through it and the security door opened, granting him access.

He then ran into the open entrance-way of the Data Hive, ready to find out what the OSI were trying to keep from the world at large.

**On the next chapter: Suzaku learns of the terrible secrets kept by the OSI and hightails it out of their local HQ in Hiroshima while the Black Knights hightail it out of Tokyo, very aware that a hornet's nest has been stirred up due to them kidnapping Nunnally, but also unaware that they are now in the cross-hairs of the Glinda Knights.**


	13. The Glinda Knights Intervene

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

A street in the Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven, May, 2018.

Gino and Anya were both out on patrol in the settlement. Apparently it wold take a bit longer for their Knightmares to be prepped and readied for deployment and so the two Knights of the Round were ordered to go incognito and patrol the settlement for signs of the BTR-80s that the Black Knights were confirmed to be inside of. While Gino had settled for a simple pair of jeans and a red T-shirt and green jacket, Anya must have been knocked upside the head pretty badly in the past as she wore a purple miniskirt and an orange low-cut blouse. All in all, she looked like a Britannian prostitute. It had been a miracle that no males tried to hit on her so far while she patrolled with the Knight of Three on the sidewalks and Gino knew that it couldn't keep going like this forever.

_'Does she even know what a Lolicon is?'_ Gino thought to himself as he knew that Anya had only reached puberty around seven months ago. He was quickly shaken out of his thoughts when a BTR-80 came into view and started rolling onto the sidewalk like it wasn't there. Quickly realizing that he and Anya were both in the path of the Russian armored personnel carrier, Gino grabbed her and rolled to the right into a small alleyway that the BTR would not be able to fit into. Once the two Knights had stopped rolling, Gino noticed that Anya was on top of him and had a light blush forming on her face before releasing his grip on her. She then got off and thanked him for the fast action that the Knight had taken to save them both from getting run over before pulling Gino back up on his feet. Gino then peeked his head out of the alleyway and saw the BTR still on the sidewalk roll back onto the street and leave his line of sight before two customized Sutherlands and a customized Gloucester sped past, apparently in pursuit of the BTR.

Even though they were incognito, Gino and Anya still had radios on them. The Knight of Three pulled his out and said, "Do you have any information on two customized Sutherlands and a customized Gloucester, Viceroy Cornelia? I just saw them speed past me and I'm sure that they're pursuing one of the suspect BTR-80s."

_"The only information that matches up are from three Knightmares belonging to the Glinda Knights, Princess Marrybell's anti-terrorist unit. They're quite similar to Darlton's Glaston Knights, but the Glinda Knights only respond to orders given to them by Marrybell mel Britannia herself. They must have found out about what transpired in the Administration Building from a mole that they had placed inside and are launching their own operation to rescue Princess Nunnally. Anyways, you and Anya are to return to base. Your Knightmares are ready and you'll need the rest for what's coming up. Cornelia out."_ Cornelia answered before cutting the transmission.

Gino put his radio away and said to Anya, "Miss Alstreim, we need to get back to base and rest up for an upcoming mission. Direct orders from the Viceroy."

Anya looked at Gino for a few seconds and said nothing before a powerful breeze swept by and lifted her skirt. Surprisingly, she didn't care at all and merely stood there, even though Gino turned away before he even saw that Anya was wearing a pair of orange panties. Once the wind had died down, Gino turned back to her and muttered under his breath that it was not proper for a man such as himself to see a lady's undergarments only to be laughed off and told by Anya that she had regularly teased the other soldiers back in the homeland when she was a relatively new face amongst the Knights of the Round. Gino knew that Anya still retained the habit of only wearing a bra and a pair of panties until she had coffee. Many of the younger men quickly learned to avoid the mess hall when she was up before them, and to have both a mug of sweetened coffee and a robe on hand for when she DID wake up if they didn't want to get a nosebleed from seeing a girl wear next to no clothing. The older men were more likely to verbally reprimand her for not being decent before offering a cup of sweetened coffee to her if she changed into her Knight uniform.

Meanwhile in the BTR-80 that Gino had spotted earlier, Zero was watching Jeremiah very closely as the former guardsman kept his eye and weapon trained on the door. Nunnally had woken up about fifteen minutes earlier, but Zero opted to tranquilize her and put her to sleep again before she realized what was going on and her head was currently slumped against his left shoulder, her breathing being very slow and steady. Zero then whispered over to Tamaki, "Any idea who's pursuing us?"

"I'd say that it has to be the Glinda Knights. Cornelia hasn't sent her troops after us and the Glaston Knights haven't been sent here yet." Tamaki whispered back.

Very suddenly the BTR driver saw a VTOL Gunship and had the gunner shoot it out of the sky while he kept his eyes on the road. Unfortunately the noise caused by the BTR firing its machine gun woke up Nunnally and she then realized where she was.

"Ah it seems that our captive is awake. No need to worry though, so long as we have her the military can't use explosive weapons against us." Zero said before turning his attention to Jeremiah and saying, "Orange Boy, our captive is awake. Turn around and use your Geass Canceller on her."

Jeremiah turned towards Nunnally and the metal cover over his left eye opened and revealed the inverted Geass symbol for a few seconds before the cover reappeared. The Princess's eyes twitched before slowly opening and when they did she then knew that she was surrounded by unfamiliar people.

"You're probably wondering where you are right now, but that's the easy part. You're inside a BTR-80 Armored Personnel Carrier that is being used by the Black Knights. Anyways Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia, you probably know who I am, but allow me to introduce myself in case you forgot. I am Zero, leader of the Black Knights. Your Knight is being held inside another BTR at the moment while we are fleeing the Tokyo Settlement." Zero said to Nunnally.

Before Nunnally could begin to ask what Zero was planning to do with her, a radio transmission that came from one of the customized Sutherlands chasing them stated, _"Attention, forces of the Black Knights! This is Leonhardt Steiner of the Glinda Knights speaking! Surrender and hand over Princess Nunnally right now if you want to get the chance to defend yourself in court! If you do not comply, we will drag the Fourth Princess out of that vehicle ourselves and destroy you all!"_

_"Like hell would we surrender to the likes of you! Your kind are leeching the lifeblood of Japan from its rightful people! Until Japan is freed from its shackles, we will not rest if you don't want to kill us all!"_ the driver of the BTR transmitted back.

This time the pilot of the customized Gloucester rammed in with, _"This is Oldrin Zevon, you guys seriously aren't this zealous, are you?"_

Before anyone could respond, a slash harken rammed into Leonhardt's customized Sutherland and forced the pilot to eject to avoid being killed. The other customized Sutherland turned towards where the slash harken came from as the pilot transmitted, _"Oldrin, continue the mission. Peace Mark has made its presence known!"_

_"Understood, Sokia. Commencing hostilities with the Black Knights!"_ Oldrin transmitted before cutting her communications and attempted to force the BTR-80 in front of her to crash by giving its wheels the slash harken treatment, only for the Armored Personnel Carrier's machine gun to make a 180-degree turn and shoot out her Knightmare's slash harkens once the weapons had exited the shoulders of the machine. Another BTR-80 then arrived and was moving on the left side of the other one. Unlike its partner this one had a 30mm cannon on top and this became apparent once it fired at Oldrin's Gloucester and destroyed a landspinner.

The BTR-80 that was armed with a machine gun immediately deployed a smokescreen and managed to evade the Gloucester. The Britannian Knightmare then leapt to dodge a slash harken from behind and once it landed turned around to see a gold and silver Knightmare retract the offending hook into its chest. Its pilot opened a communication link to Oldrin's Knightmare and said, _"So you're still fighting for the Empire that destroyed everything that I had? It's a shame that we have to see each other as enemies now, sister."_

_"Wh- Who are you!? Why did you call me your sister!?"_ Oldrin demanded.

_"I hate to remember the past, but when I killed one of the men responsible for the death of Euria, I took upon my first identity from when I was born and now, the Britannian Empire shall feel the anger, sadness, hopelessness, and unforgiving rage of Orpheus Zevon! I was born a Zevon as a twin brother to the real successor of the family, and that successor is you, Oldrin! I will prove my worth and show that I am no commoner by delaying you long enough for the Black Knights to escape!"_


	14. OSI Infiltration, Part Two

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Office of Secret Intelligence Area Eleven branch headquarters, Data Hive, Hiroshima, May, 2018.

Suzaku knew that almost nobody was inside the Data Hive and as such was able to reach where the confidential Intelligence was held and captured it. However, once he had grabbed the briefcase that contained the Intelligence, the alarm went off and he had to quickly plant the bomb and hightail it out of the Hiroshima headquarters. It took nearly an hour and even worse, once Suzaku got out the Britannian military opened fire on him whenever they saw him. After Suzaku managed to get the drop on a patrol of six foot soldiers and knocked them out, he grabbed the radio of their leader and heard something that foreshadowed major trouble for him.

_"Suzaku Kururugi is still in the area. All local military forces are to kill him on sight. I repeat, the Ex-Knight of Seven is to be killed on sight. Furthermore, the decision has been made to revoke his status as a military officer regarding questionable loyalty."_ the transmission said.

_'Shit! All of my effort to cooperate with the Britannians has all been for naught!'_ Suzaku thought to himself before he began a long and arduous effort of avoiding Britannian military patrols while escaping the city. Once he was out of the city, he journeyed to the one place where he could find much-needed solitude: the ruins of the Kururugi Shrine. Once there, he agonized for hours over what he had been doing and what he would have to do now before a thought struck him.

"When your ideals betray you, when you are consumed by despair, when your life seems to hold nothing but darkness, seek me out. Seek me out and join me so we can save not only Japan, but the world." Suzaku remembered Zero say to him before the Ex-Honorary Britannian had gone to his court-martial.

_'Euphie is the only light that I have in this dark world now, and she's joined the Black Knights. I became her Knight so that I could protect her, so I have to join them too in order to avoid betraying my ideals. Yet, where are the Black Knights now?'_ Suzaku thought before heading to the Shinjuku Ghetto, where he had first fought the Black Knights when they were still the Kozuki Resistance.

Meanwhile in the Knightmare Hangar of the Area Eleven Administration Building, Lloyd had gotten into the cockpit of the Lancelot and began booting up its systems before taking off. Cecile had tried to stop him to no avail and could only watch as the Earl of Pudding went out to search for the devicer of his machine. Knowing that Schneizel would be undoubtedly furious, Cecile notified him about Lloyd's recent actions and said that he was acting out of line.

Schneizel laughed and then said over a video channel, "Well, consider yourself officially screwed, Ms. Croomy. My assistant Kanon has been pressuring me to marry someone for quite some time and now that your superior has gone and left with the Lancelot, I now have blackmail material on you. Face the harshness of reality, Cecile; if you want to save your career, you have no choice but to marry me at the end of the month. If you don't, I'll send Luciano Bradley over to fuck your sorry c*** for not being able to stop Earl Asplund."

Cecile's eyes widened in horror when the Second Prince mentioned the Knight of Ten and realized that what he had said was not an empty threat before saying, "Understood. I'll join our hands in marriage in four days. When will the wedding take place?"

"It will be held at the Viceroy's Palace. That is all, Ms. Croomy." Schneizel said before cutting the call.

* * *

On the news throughout the Britannian Empire, Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia was going to make an important announcement. In Pendragon, Guinevere su Britannia was in the middle of giving a servant from Area Six a verbal reprimandation while near a TV that Carine was watching when she heard an announcer say, "It is time for an address by Her Royal Highness Princess Cornelia, Second Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire."

Guinevere stopped reprimanding the servant and looked at the TV and saw that the screen was changing from the flag of Britannia to show Princess Cornelia.

"To my imperial subjects and of course, to any and all numbers who cooperate with us, this is a sad day for the Holy Britannian Empire. The Viceroy of Area Eleven and member of the Royal Family, Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia, was kidnapped by the Black Knights and taken from the Area Eleven Government Bureau. In response to this brazen act made by the Black Knights and the absence of Princess Nunnally, I have decided to once again take up the responsibility of becoming the Viceroy of Area Eleven. Be assured that the Black Knights will be defeated and brought to justice for this crime, for I am appointing Princess Marrybell mel Britannia as my Sub-Viceroy. Let it be known that we do not tolerate terrorism of any kind and that any action made against the Royal Family was and still is not acceptable! Now then, I shall allow my Sub-Viceroy to address the nation." Cornelia said before stepping to the side and allowing Princess Marrybell to take the podium.

"I am honored to have been given the task of assisting our Goddess of Victory with her responsibilities as Viceroy and will balance this with my own responsibilies as leader of the Glinda Knights. As Princess Cornelia said, we shall not bow down to the demands of terrorists and let this heinous act go unpunished! Rest assured that we will find where the Black Knights have taken our beloved Princess Nunnally and rescue her from their diabolical hands! All Hail Britannia!" Marrybell stated before the screen returned to showing the flag of Britannia.

"Well, this was certainly unexpected. I didn't think that Cornelia was the type to make important speeches." Guinevere said to Carine.

"I agree, dear sister. I'm sure that she was only doing this because imperial tradition dictates that the Viceroy of an imperial Area announce their formal address on National Television before entering the position." Carine replied.

"Indeed. Even so, I would imagine that you don't feel sorry for those uncivilized plebeians who kidnapped our sister."

"Quite correct, dear sister Guinevere. I had told Nunnally that she should have been more accepting of violence and war before she went out to Area Eleven after Duke Calares was killed by a couple of Honorary Britannians who simply hated the man. She didn't execute those men for what they did to Calares and now it's bitten her in the. . . err, buttocks because the Black Knights managed to kidnap her. Honestly, I don't even know why she's such a pacifist."

"Tch, must I remind you that Nunnally told us that the Black Knight had executed her brother Lelouch!? The news even backed that up with a video that was shown on National Television, for Pete's sake! She was also forced to survive with Lelouch during our invasion of Area Eleven back when it was still called Japan and I clearly remember her telling me that she and Lelouch were almost killed by both our own soldiers and the Japanese Military! You, Carine ne Britannia, are a bitch and a half if you can't even remember that!"

"Oh, don't get all high and mighty about that, dear sister! They were both banished to that country because Lelouch had the nerve to stand up to his Majesty and demand justice for that commoner Marianne!" Carine shouted before Guinevere slapped her hard.

"You will NOT disgrace Lady Marianne's name with that impudent mouth of yours, Carine! Even though I didn't think too highly of her, she was able to best his Majesty's Knight of One, Sir Wadstein. Now then, where was I?" Guinevere said before trying to remember what she was doing before Cornelia had given her address.


	15. The vi Brittania Siblings Reunite

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Former Japanese Liberation Front base royal holding quarters, Narita Mountain, May, 2018, 21:37 local time.

It had been three days since the Black Knights arrived at their base ever since Operation Fallen Noble has been initiated and the mission proved to be a success as Nunnally vi Britannia was now being held inside of the base at Narita Mountain. Even though her eyesight was restored, her hand-eye coordination was still terrible. She did notice that her quarters were very luxurious as expected for a captured princess, but it still remained a hard fact that she was still confined to a wheelchair. For the time being, Jeremiah had been assigned to guard her by Zero and even though Nunnally could explore the base's interior, she mostly remained within her living area. The situation changed three weeks later, when Zero received word that the Black Knights' limb reinforcement program had bore fruit in the form of experimental leg braces.

On the day that Zero had decided to meet with the captive Fourth Princess of Britannia, Nunnally was contemplating on if Alice was alright while in her living quarters late at night when Ohgi arrived with two other members who wore gas masks. "Excuse me Miss Nunnally, but Zero wants me to bring you to his private quarters. Says that he has something to discuss with you and that what he has to talk with you about can't be discussed elsewhere in case something happens." the former schoolteacher said.

"Oh, Zero just wants to talk to me? What does he want?" the princess asked.

"Sorry Nunnally, but that information isn't something that Zero was willing to discuss with me."

"Well, I guess I can have a chat with him then. Jeremiah, if you could be so kind as to move my wheelchair for me." Nunnally said to the teal-haired Black Knight.

"Of course, Lady Nunnally." the former guardsman said.

Jeremiah wheeled the Fourth Princess of Britannia down to Zero's living quarters while being escorted by Ohgi and the two gas-mask-wearing Black Knights. It took about five minutes and once they were there, Zero was in there wearing his helmet. Zero then dismissed the gas-masked soldiers before he said, "Ah, good to see you, Princess Nunnally. Now then, the R&amp;D department of the Black Knights has successfully completed something that could benefit you later on: the leg brace. They are designed from the same technology used in the Fifth Generation Knightmare Frames and as such are very resistant to wear and tear. Now why is this important? Should you consent to having your legs be operated on so that the limb reinforcements can be attached, you will be able to regain the use of your legs and walk again."

"So what you're saying is that if I accept the leg braces, I won't be crippled anymore?" Nunnally asked.

"Indeed."

"Then it has been decided. You have my consent to perform an operation on me so that the leg braces can be attached to them."

"Well, that takes care of one issue. There's also another reason why I called you down here. Can you tell who is behind this mask?"

Nunnally thought to herself for a few moments and guessed, "A Japanese person?"

"Incorrect. If the person behind the mask was Japanese, I would not be as kind as I am right now. Furthermore, I have been planning my revenge on Britannia for over seven years and can now unleash it. Jeremiah, if you may."

"Of course, Zero." Jeremiah said before removing Zero's helmet and setting it down on a table. Nunnally then saw that the person behind the mask had raven-black hair and purple eyes. The young man then said, "Remember this, Fourth Princess of the Britannian Empire?"

Nunnally tried to comprehend what was going on and asked, "B- Big brother!? You're Zero!?"

"Exactly, although judging by my actions in the past I can no longer call myself your big brother." Lelouch stated.

Nunnally shook her head in disagreement and said, "No, that's not true! I should have figured that you had killed Clovis when you had returned home after Shinjuku, but back then I was still blind! Lelouch, please be aware that I can never hate you no matter what you do or what you have done! I couldn't bring myself to dislike you even when you had abandoned me before I was taken from our home at Ashford Academy!"

Lelouch slumped onto a bed, stunned by what his younger sister was saying. "I just don't want to be separated from you again, Lelouch! I now know that you intend to liberate Japan and create a better world for me and Euphemia! I. . . I. . . I love you, big brother!" The Fourth Princess stated before placing her wheelchair near the edge of the bed and then lunging onto her older brother as tears began to fall from her face. The force of the lunge sent the two vi Britannia siblings onto it and Lelouch noticed Nunnally bury her head into his shoulders as she began to cry. Tears began to stream down Lelouch's face as he held his younger sister in his arms and heard her say, "Lelouch, please. . . please sleep with me tonight!"

Nunnally's older brother simply hugged her tighter as they collapsed onto the bed. Meanwhile in the Viceroy's Office at the Area Eleven Administration Building, Cornelia was at her desk and in front of her was Princess Marrybell mel Britannia and her subordinate Oldrin Zevon along with a restrained young man with blond hair and green eyes.

"According to DNA results, he is telling the truth. This man, Orpheus Zevon, is the twin brother of your subordinate Oldrin." Cornelia said as she looked at a set of papers that confirmed what she had said.

"No way! She- She never said anything about having a brother." Marrybell stated.

"That's because Orpheus was thrown out of my family and left for dead in the streets of the homeland. I can't believe that my parents would be so heartless as to do such a thing! He had been recruited by someone and escaped from them, but they tracked him down and tried to kill him! They failed, but they had murdered his lover, a girl named Euria, in cold blood and escaped! He swore vengeance on Euria's killers and to that end he joined the mercenary/terrorist organization known as Peace Mark. If anything, he has been severely traumatized and I won't allow anyone to kill him!" Oldrin Zevon explained.

"Well then, I was planning to execute him, but I would assume that if I did then Ms. Zevon here would take her own life." Cornelia said.

"Correct, Viceroy Cornelia. However, you know what my stance on terrorists is, right?" Marrybell remarked.

"Yeah, I know about it. You don't spare anyone and you don't negotiate at all."

"However, my brother is different from the ordinary terrorists that have been put down by our hands. And judging by the information from my Gloucester's Factsphere, there's another thing that I need to speak about." Oldrin stated

"Okay, what is it then?" Cornelia asked.

"It's about Lelouch vi Britannia. He's alive and leading the Black Knights as the masked man Zero. For all these few months we believed that the Black Knights had executed him, but it was all a distraction so that he would not be returned to the homeland. He clearly doesn't approve of how His Majesty is currently running it, but that goes against everything that the Empire is built upon!"

"You're right, Oldrin. He also probably faked his execution so that Nunnally wouldn't try to seek him out. It worked and now that the Black Knights have her in their custody, the vi Britannia siblings are together again. Aside from Euphie, they're the only family that I have. It's also another reason why Lelouch wouldn't want to return to the homeland. He would do anything to protect Princess Nunnally from the Emperor."

"Wh- what!? Lelouch would go against the Empire just to protect his younger sister!? Geez, that reminds me of how I felt about my own sister until terrorists killed her and my mother." Marrybell said, clearly surprised.

"From how I look at it, His Majesty would probably coerce Lelouch into obeying him by threatening Nunnally and vice-versa! I don't even know how he fared for all those years before the Ashfords found them, but he must have been through tough times." Cornelia stated.

"If you thought that what Lelouch possibly went through was bad enough, then you have no idea what my brother has been through. In fact, I would say that Orpheus has had it even worse than what the Eleventh Prince experienced. But that will have to wait until Zero is captured. Right now, we don't even know where the Black Knights escaped to. Orpheus, acting on Peace Mark's orders, had delayed the Glinda Knights long enough for the Black Knights to escape with Princess Nunnally and then made his own escape elsewhere. In fact, it was only when Peace Mark sent someone and tried to assassinate a member of the high nobility four days ago that we were able to intercept and capture my brother." Oldrin remarked.

"So where do we start hunting?" Marrybell mel Britannia asked.

"Do you remember who else was among the people that the Black Knights had kidnapped along with Nunnally?"

To everyone's surprise, it was Orpheus who had asked that question. Oldrin then answered, "There was Princess Nunnally's personal Knight Alice, then three members of the Student Council of Ashford Academy. They were Milly Ashford, Sophie Wood and Shirley Fenette."

"I have a hunch as to where the Black Knights could have taken them. Do any of you remember the Japanese Liberation Front?"

"I do. Because of what had happened last year when the Sakuradite Conference was held at Lake Kawaguchi, I had them listed as a terrorist organization and moved to eliminate them." Cornelia said.

"The Lake Kawaguchi Incident was not authorized by their leaders. Colonel Kusakabe had been acting of his own accord during that incident. Have you been inside their old base at Narita Mountain?"

"No, the JLF had abandoned the base and probably rigged it with traps after they escaped. Are you saying that the Black Knights might be there?"

"Yes. The Black Knights have probably occupied the base and are currently using it as we speak. Another reason why they probably fled to Narita is because Shirley's father died there, buried in a landslide."

"Well then, Orpheus Zevon, it seems like we now know where to find the Black Knights. Any idea on any other Eleven terrorist organizations?"

"No. After the Black Knights and non-Honorary Britannian Elevens left for the Chinese Federation, all of the terrorist cells that remained fused with the Black Knights, including the remnants of the Blood of the Samurai faction. However, Narita is not their only base of operations. They have allied with the Chinese and have already conquered Hokkaido and Kyushu. They most certainly have bases there and according to Peace Mark's intelligence network, the Black Knights have also shuttered numerous Sakuradite mines on Mount Fuji in case Option Nihil is unleashed."

"Wait, they shuttered some of the mines!? What were they thinking!? Sakuradite production is down because of that!" Marrybell shouted.

"According to the Intel, Option Nihil is supposed to be used if the Tokyo Settlement cannot be held by Britannian forces and it calls for the detonation of the Sakuradite mines so that Area Eleven is rendered uninhabitable. Zero must have found out about it and has been focusing guerrilla attacks on the mines in order to slow down Sakuradite production and defuse Option Nihil at the same time."

At that point Cornelia gasped and then said, "Schneizel must have set this up in case Lelouch tried to take Tokyo guns blazing. Marrybell, have your Glinda Knights be ready to attack Narita in two days. You'll be working in collaboration with Andreas Darlton and his unit, the Glaston Knights for Operation: Bad Days. Our objective is to capture Lelouch and rescue Nunnally along with any other prisoners held in the base. After Lelouch is captured, I will personally interrogate him to find out why he chose to become Zero and fight Britannia."

A loud high-pitched scream was heard and was then followed by a man groaning in pain. Anya Alstreim then burst in and exclaimed, "Some perverted young man tried to feel up my breasts, so I kicked him in the family jewels!"

"Oh crap, it's Anya Alstreim." Cornelia said.

"The Knight of Six?" Oldrin Zevon asked.

"Yes. She doesn't trust her memories at all, so she maintains a blog that she accesses and updates with her phone."

* * *

**A/N: Now you might be wondering why Anya complained about being touched inappropriately and think that she's out of character. That's completely intentional because in this fic, Marianne's Geass didn't function properly and she died completely when V.V. assassinated her as a result of her Geass going completely nuts. When she saw Anya, instead of Marianne's soul being transferred to Miss Alstreim as intended, it instead completely annihilated her memories. Since Anya has a weird mind, I decided to give her a flirtatious personality.**

**On the next chapter: Lloyd tears two members of Valkyrie Squadron a new one at the Gunma Ruins while Suzaku reaches the Black Knights base at Narita Mountain mere hours before Operation: Bad Days begins.**

**Update: Oh yeah, and Lelouch x Nunnally is the pairing in this story.**


	16. Bad Days: Prelude

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Gunma Ruins, May, 2018.

"So we're being sent here to kill Lloyd Asplund because that asshat went looking for Suzaku?" an unnamed member of Valkyrie Squadron asked Liliana Vergamon as the two of them kept watch over the area in their Vincents.

"Yep, this place shall be the grave of the Earl of Pudding if he's no good at piloting a Knightmare! Hahahahaha!" Liliana laughed.

Very suddenly, a green projectile slammed into Liliana's Vincent from behind and it was followed by two more shots that forced the pilot to eject before the Knightmare exploded. The unnamed member of Valkyrie Squadron then turned around and saw the Lancelot, armed with the VARIS rifle in one hand. It quickly put the VARIS rifle away and pulled out its two Maser Vibration Swords and sliced through the remaining Vincent before sheathing its MVS blades.

"You just got a can of whoop-ass opened on you, bitches!" Lloyd taunted before leaving. While it wasn't obvious that Lloyd knew what he was doing, he had a perfect rating for the Lancelot in the simulator, which made sense considering that he built the Knightmare Frame himself. Lloyd knew the specs and strengths of his creation, and took advantage of them easily to eliminate foes who were better pilots for lack of a better word.

In the meantime, Suzaku had managed to reach the Narita outskirts and noticed that it was quiet. Too quiet for his liking as it meant that something big was about to happen. Even now, his gut was telling him that the situation was going to head completely south as he went through the town. He made sure to avoid the patrolling Britannian soldiers and managed to reach the foot of the mountainside before noticing that several sentries were patrolling the area. One of them saw him and said, "Hey, isn't that guy Suzaku Kururugi?"

"Yeah, it's him. You think we should bring him in since the Brits threw him out?" the patrolman's partner said.

_"Search him and confiscate any weapons you find, then bring him straight to Zero's quarters. Ohgi out."_ Ohgi transmitted from the command center of the base.

The two patrolling sentries then searched Suzaku and only found a pistol on him. They confiscated it and then brought him inside the base. It took around six minutes to reach Zero's quarters and when they arrived, Kallen was waiting outside and motioned for the sentries to return to their positions outside the base. Once they left, Kallen opened the door and motioned for Suzaku to head inside before she closed the door after herself. Heading in, Suzaku noticed that the room was being occupied by Zero himself and. . .

"Nunnally!" Suzaku shouted as he saw that the Fourth Princess's eyes were wide open instead of closed. The former honorary Britannian also noticed that Jeremiah was also inside the room, sitting in a chair and watching something on a television.

"Ah, good to see you, Suzaku. I take it that you are here to join the Black Knights?" Zero asked as he rose from a small couch that he was sitting in with Nunnally before picking her up and placing her in her wheelchair.

"Yeah. In all honesty, it's my only option now. I got kicked out for snooping into OSI business." Suzaku stated.

"Well, in ten minutes the Black Knights will be performing an operation on Nunnally so that we can attach our experimental 'Leg Braces' to her and then she'll be able to walk again. That being said, it turned out that her blindness was Geass-induced when we captured her and her eyes opened after Jeremiah here used his Geass Canceller on her. You probably know that Euphemia is alive right now since during Operation Fallen Noble I intentionally had her expose her identity, but that was also to troll the Britannians."

_'Okay, but what the flying fuck is Geass?'_ Suzaku thought to himself as he walked with Zero to the medical division before asking, "By the way, I heard that Princess Marrybell and her anti-terrorist squadron, the Glinda Knights, are in Area Eleven now."

"They probably know about this site, so we'll have to abandon it." Zero said before pulling a walkie-talkie out and transmitting, _"Patrol 5, status report."_

_"Boss, we've spotted the Glinda Knights. They're on their way here as we speak."_ Patrol 5 transmitted.

_"Any other hostiles?"_

_"Several other Knightmares. The pilots are confirmed to be members of the Glaston Knights led by Andreas Darlton. They will enter attacking range within five minutes. Orders?"_

_"All patrols are to avoid the enemy and escape."_ Zero said before cutting the transmission and contacting the command center.

_"Kyoshiro Tohdoh here, Zero. What's the situation?"_ Tohdoh transmitted.

_"Enemy forces have found our base here. They are confirmed to be the Glaston Knights and the Glinda Knights. Give the order to have all forces delay the Britannian attackers long enough for the medical division to complete their operation and then begin evacuation of the base."_

_"Understood. Tohdoh out."_

Once in the medical section of the base, Jeremiah wheeled Nunnally into an operation room and then everyone except for Zero was asked to leave the room by a pair of doctors. While waiting in a waiting room, a brown-haired young man wearing the uniform of the Black Knights approached Suzaku and said, "So you're Suzaku Kururugi, huh? The name's Naoto Kozuki and I must say that today is just full of surprises."

"Any reason why you're talking to me?"

"Nah, I don't need no freaking' reason to talk to you. I will say that my sister Kallen really doesn't like you, so I would suggest avoiding her unless you HAVE to work with her. On another note, Shinjiro Aragaki wants my help packing the kitchen supplies so I need to get going."

Naoto then left.


	17. Operation: Bad Days

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Narita Mountain exterior, June 1st, 2018.

"This is Doug. No sign of the Black Knights in this area, over." A Britannian soldier transmitted.

"Keep your eyes open. We have no idea what they'll do." Oldrin transmitted.

Suddenly gunfire was heard as Doug rolled to the left to avoid a stream of bullets coming from what he thought was the entrance to the base. He quickly transmitted, _"This is Doug, enemy forces have made contact at possible entrance."_

_"Hold your position, we'll come to you."_ Oldrin transmitted.

Inside the command center of the base, Tohdoh was busy coordinating defense units and stalling for time that the medical officers needed to complete their operation. Since it was now in its final stages, they needed around ten minutes. The Glaston Knights and the Glinda Knights were both doing their best to try and break through the defenses, but the defenses were also doing their best to hold them back since evacuation hadn't commenced yet. It was a hectic eight minutes of stopping enemy attempts to get through as members of the Black Knights held their ground.

Once only a minute was left until the medical division could complete their operation, the Glaston Knights had managed to blitz through a defensive line only to encounter another one. The troops that were holding the line that had been broken through decided to play it safe and escape the base while the Glaston Knights were occupied trying to break through the second line. The Glinda Knights were not having much better luck as they also had to contend with a second defensive line after destroying an initial one. It was not long before the medical division of the Black Knights had completed their operation and evacuation began.

Inside the operation room, Zero waited for the doctors' results and they told him that the operation was a success. Upon hearing that, Zero slowly walked over to where Nunnally was and saw that she was still knocked out due to the sleeping gas. The leader of the Black Knights then said, "I'll take her with me. We need to get out of here now that the Glaston Knights and Glinda Knights are attacking this base." before picking up the sleeping Nunnally and carried her out of the room and toward the hangar where the Shinkiro was stored. Once inside the hangar, he went inside the cockpit of the machine and positioned his sister so that she was sitting sideways in his lap and didn't block the monitor that Lelouch needed to use in order to properly identify the positions of both enemies and allies.

Meanwhile, the Glinda Knights had managed to find one of the tunnels leading to the Knightmare Hangars of the base when the defense forces suddenly began to retreat. The Glaston Knights noticed a similar situation when they got close to where the command center was and quickly realized that the base was being abandoned. A few nameless soldiers got out of their Knightmares and went into the control center only to find a bomb waiting for them.

_"It's a trap! We need to get the hell outta here before this thing blows!"_ The squadron's commander yelled through the radio.

_"What's the situation in there?"_ Marrybell asked.

_"Bomb in the Command Center! It's got a proximity sensor on and it's wired to the detonator! We can't defuse something like this, so we're getti-"_ the commander was cut off by the bomb exploding and the Britannian forces immediately began to leave the area so that they weren't caught in the blast.


	18. Bad Days: Aftermath

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. The views and opinions expressed in this story do not reflect the views of BlackTyrantValvatorez or Fanfiction Dot Net.

Somewhere in the Chinese Federation, meeting room, June 22nd, 2018.

"That situation was too close for comfort! If they had broken through sooner, all of us who were in the Narita base would have been captured by the Britannian military!" an unmasked Zero shouted to the other leaders of the Black Knights. It had become apparent that since the others knew about his real identity and about Geass, the loyalty that the Black Knights had to Lelouch had strengthened instead of breaking completely. Even then, Lelouch mostly wore the mask of Zero as a feeling of nostalgia to the old days of the organization before the SAZ Massacre.

"Even so, I performed to the best of my ability. It was miraculous that we were able to hold onto our prisoners plus our honored guest." Tohdoh stated.

"Indeed. By the way, what is taking Kaguya so long now that with the counter-invasion scrapped, there's no need for multiple Home Guard commanders?"

"Yeah, about that, there was a ton of paperwork that had to be dealt with." Naoto spoke up.

"Alright, I should probably go and help her with that. By the way Ohgi, how are the prisoners doing?" Zero said.

"Some of the guards were considering whether to rape Alice or not. I had them transferred to the front lines. Aside from that small incident, they've been fine." Ohgi stated.

"Good work there." Zero said before leaving to help Kaguya. Once he left, Naoto then asked Ohgi, "So Ohgi, how is the orange-haired prisoner faring?"

"Eh, she was slightly shocked to find out that Lelouch was responsible for the death of her father during the Narita Mountain Battle in 2017. He had apologized to her about that and honestly, they were so silent during that half-hour I didn't know what was going to happen. In the end, she forgave him and there's also something else that we need to talk about, Naoto." Ohgi replied.

"Is it about Nunnally? If it is, I should remind you that the Westermarck Effect has absolutely no fucking presence in Code Geass or any of its official spin-offs."

"Yeah, and that's not even touching the fact that Lelouch is a fucking siscon. I mean, yesterday I overheard both Nunnally and Euphemia arguing over who was going to marry Lelouch once Japan has been liberated and Britannia is neutralized as a threat to the planet. That was before Suzaku came into the equation and complicated things further. I mean, Nunnally is probably, I don't know, fourteen or fifteen right now? I don't even know what age she is, but she is almost as flat as a board because she's younger than Kallen."

"Fortunately, it seems that Suzaku seems to prefer Euphemia. It might have had something to do with him being her Knight from when he was in the military before the SAZ Massacre occurred."

"Arrrgh, just thinking about that day makes me want to throw the fuck up."

"Not to mention that Nunnally actually told me that unless she met someone who could care for her better than Lelouch, she wouldn't marry anyone else."

"By the way, I wonder how Jeremiah is faring right now?" Ohgi asked.

"Eh, he's been serving under Lelouch and Nunnally directly and has been tutoring the Princess since Lelouch doesn't want Nunnally out in the field in case she's captured." Naoto replied.

"It makes sense considering that we had to plan for quite a bit and almost got destroyed by the Glinda Knights when we commenced Operation Fallen Noble."

Meanwhile in another room of the hidden safehouse, Lelouch had finished helping Kaguya with her paperwork and had been notified that Lloyd Asplund had arrived. After running into Suzaku, Lelouch finally got to the hangar where Lloyd was waiting.

"So you're Lloyd Asplund, the famous Earl of Pudding?" Lelouch asked.

"You would be correct, Zero. Ah, I see that Suzaku is here as well. Excellent, I brought the Lancelot along, but unfortunately it seems that Ms. Cecile is in a bit of a quandary right now." Lloyd said with a serious expression on his face.

"What's the situation with her?"

"She's been forced to marry Prince Schneizel."

"I can guess that she was given an alternative option that would pretty much destroy her career or life."

"Bingo: Schneizel would have had Luciano Bradley of all people rape her."

Suzaku remained silent for five seconds before he punched a wall in frustration and vowed, "I will make him pay for this transgression!"

"That time will come eventually Suzaku, but for now we must focus on fighting Britannia. How many Sakuradite mines in Area Eleven are still in Britannian hands, Kallen?" Lelouch said as Kallen walked in.

"Only three right now. Option Nihil is nearly completed defused, but we can't let our guard down." Kallen stated.

"Good, that means that we're on target. However, once Japan has been liberated, Britannia will most certainly stop at nothing to conquer it again. To that end, we will have to escalate and begin launching attacks on other areas. I have no sympathy for the Britannians over in Africa at the moment."

* * *

Geographic South Africa, Britannian Base Camp 2.

"These fucking Africans are a pain in the ass! Why do they waste our time with this shit!?" a Britannian soldier cursed as he patrolled the outside perimeter of the base with another one.

"I completely agree! The damned niggers are absolutely everywhere! We could easily kill them all on a good day and be done with this shit, but no; those stupid, fucking European dumb-asses have to arm the locals and give them Anti-Knightmare weapons to somewhat negate our advantage! And I don't see why we aren't assigned to the front lines! The two of us are Purists, for Christ's sake! Does the Army have something against us now!?" the second soldier shouted.

"I honestly have no fucking idea! The kikes and wops are the ones running the show, not us! If it were us who were in charge, we would be burning the fucking continent and using chemical weapons on our enemies. I don't know why we even signed that fucking agreement that prohibited us from using chemical and biological weaponry!"

"Also, how many Elevens does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"

"One thousand?"

"Yes, and that's because there is one Eleven to screw it in and the other nine hundred ninety-nine to make sure that the goddamn system is working properly!"

"You know, the Commander is going to chew our asses off if he hears us telling these jokes."

"Well, the Commander can stick his morality bullshit up his asshole for all I care! I just signed up because I want to fucking kill people!"

"Same deal with me. The stupid monkeys are gonna die in the future!" the first soldier said.

"Evolution is continuous, so these 'monkeys' might end up being the ones who burn down Britannia. Yet, what's the odds of that happening compared to those fucking Elevens!?" the second soldier replied.

"Next to nothing!"

"Exactly, and that's why we should head out there and burn the motherfu-" the second soldier started, but was interrupted by a series of explosions that killed him and the first soldier. An African miliitant in camouflage garb then yelled a battle cry in Afrikaans before charging into the base.

* * *

Somewhere in the Chinese Federation, holding cells.

Milly Ashford was grateful that she had managed to hide a lockpick kit in her cleavage, but she couldn't really use it at the moment because of the fact that Tamaki of all people was standing outside of the door to her cell along with Kallen. The Ashford family heiress knew that Shirley, Sophie, and Alice were being held inside other cells, but causing a jailbreak wouldn't go well since Milly had overheard Tamaki mention that this base was located somewhere in the Chinese Federation, but the Japanese man never mentioned exactly where in the Federation's territory the base was. And of course, there was Nunnally to worry about because the Black Knights had kept her separate from the other prisoners.

Kallen suddenly had to go check on something and when she did, Milly realized that this might be her only opportunity to shake some information out of Zero and decided to bang on a wall of her cell while pressing her back against a wall at a position where Tamaki couldn't see her from the outside. Naturally, Tamaki decided to investigate the sound and opened the cell door before going in. Milly knew that she couldn't win a fair fight with Tamaki, so she opted to knock him out and leave him inside the cell before heading to where Zero's quarters were located. It was somewhat difficult since the Black Knights were on the alert and she had almost been caught by a patrol of five gas mask-wearing members whom she only managed to avoid because she hid inside of a locker. The man-sized lockers were an oddity, but also practical since the members often stored their rifle cases and body armor in there along with their field uniforms when they actually went out on missions.

Near a door, Milly overheard talking on the other side of it and pressed her right ear to the door to listen in to the conversation.

". . . was once addicted to Refrain." a voice on the other side of the door said.

"So that's why Kallen hates Refrain so much." a feminine voice replied.

"Yes. We've shut down many Refrain operations in both Japan and here in the Chinese Federation. Kallen has no doubt been one of our best pilots in the Black Knights." a third voice said.

Before Milly could listen in further, she heard a rifle cock and turned to her left slowly and saw two members of the Black Knights. Both of them were wearing gas masks and had their weapons pointed at the Ashford heiress.

"How the hell did you get out of your cell? Do we have a rat problem in this base? one of the gas masked Black Knights asked.

"I don't know, but at the same time the forces in Honshu have made remarkable progress. Mount Fuji is now completely under our control and Britannia has been driven out of every city save Tokyo." the other one said.

The door that Milly had listened through opened and stepping through was none other than Nunnally. Milly noticed something off about the fifteen year old's legs, namely that they had metal braces on them and then there was the fact that Nunnally's eyes were open and were a light purple in contrast to the dark violet eyes of Lelouch. The Ashford heiress also saw that Nunnally was wearing a pink dress that ended at her thighs and she had a commanding aura around her as the two gas mask-clad Black Knights saluted her on sight.

So you've managed to get out of your cell, Milly. Zero will be eager to speak to you about this." Nunnally said to Milly.

Milly was left with no choice but to follow Nunnally as the two gas mask-wearing Black Knights were behind the Ashford heiress. Eventually they arrived in a room where Euphemia was waiting along with Suzaku, Rivalz, and Zero himself.

"Alright, now that we're here, we can begin talking. Rivalz, if you may." Zero said to the blue-haired young man.

Rivalz snapped his fingers and then Shirley, Sophie and Alice were escorted inside the room by three members of the Black Knights each. After they were seated, Rivalz removed Zero's helmet, revealing midnight black hair and a pair of dark violet eyes.

"It- It can't be! Le- Lelouch is not only alive, but he's Zero!? Milly shouted, surprised to see that someone who was supposed to be dead was leading the Black Knights.

"It seems that Diethard Ried's little show had worked quite well. In any case, you are probably wondering why Nunnally can walk and see again. I will answer that now. It was all during a mission that the Black Knights undertook called Operation Fallen Noble." Lelouch spoke.

"The objective of Operation Fallen Noble was to kidnap the then-Viceroy of Area Eleven and Nunnally's presence here is proof of the mission's success. Rivalz, acting as a sleeper agent, planted satchels of Sleep Gas among piles of inconspicuous objects and then set them off in a bathroom before three squads stormed the building and captured my sister along with her Knight Alice, you, Shirley, and Ms. Sophie Wood. We then made our escape in three BTR-80 APCs given to us by Russian sympathizers who supported the Black Knights. Nunnally awoke during the escape from Tokyo, but I had Jeremiah use his Geass Canceller on her and my suspicions were proven right when she opened her eyes after the Geass Canceller was used on Nunnally."

Milly knew what was going on since Tamaki had told her along with the other prisoners about Geass and said, "Wait, Nunnally's blindness was Geass-induced?"

"Yes, Milly. Apparently Charles zi Britannia had altered her memories so that she thought that she was blind according to the data obtained when we seized control of the Geass Order. The Emperor's Geass allows him to alter memories according to whatever he says, but it requires eye contact. He did use it on me, but I had also used my own Geass, Absolute Obedience, on him. Specifically, Charles zi Britannia had tried to intercept me and the Black Knights when we fled for the Chinese Federation in the aftermath of the SAZ massacre with the intention of erasing my memories of being Zero and removing Nunnally from the memories that I would retain. I Geassed him into erasing all of my memories **except** for when I was Zero and to the Emperor, Lelouch died spying on the Black Knights." Lelouch answered.

"For over six months Lelouch had been acting as Zero and was recruiting more and more people into the Black Knights. With the Chinese Federation currently invading Area Eleven with their aid, the Black Knights have proven themselves to be an effective force that could possibly threaten the Britannian Homeland. As to how I am still alive, the OSI had somehow revived me in the aftermath of the SAZ massacre. While the tanker I was on was en route to Area Eleven, the Black Knights had raided it and I was captured and brought to Narita, where my memories were restored." Euphemia added.

"Until the Black Knights had kidnapped me as their main objective in Operation Fallen Noble and then taken to Narita, I was unaware that Onii-sama was still alive. He had intentionally made the world believe that he was dead so that I would not attempt to seek him out and try to make him stop his plan to destroy Britannia. It worked and even though I am still hurt by the fact that he had abandoned me before I was brought back into the Imperial Family, I ultimately forgave him for what he has been doing so far and for what he has done in the past. I can never bring myself to hate my older brother Lelouch and vowed to help him make a gentler world for me. In fact, with the research of the Black Knights I have been given back the use of my legs and my eyes were restored thanks to the Geass Canceller used by one Jeremiah Gottwald." Nunnally stated.

Shirley had her right hand on her left breast during the entire explanation and was on the verge of tears, devastated by the information that she had just heard as did Sophie. Euphemia then said, "As for why I died in the SAZ massacre and was subsequently revived, I will answer in reverse order. I was revived because the OSI thought that they could use me as an assassin and send me out to kill Lelouch. I died because Lelouch's Geass, Absolute Obedience, had become out of control when he unintentionally told me to kill the Japanese and the Black Knights were left with no other option but to kill me to stop the massacre because they didn't have the Geass Canceller back then."

Milly herself was now also on the verge of tears and then Rivalz came up to her and placed his right hand on her left shoulder before barely whispering to her, "It's alright. You can cry now." Something broke inside Milly when she heard the blue-haired Black Knight say that and she began to cry, burying her face into his chest as she did so.

**On the next Chapter: The Battle of Tokyo commences at the same time as a battle begins between Akito Hyuga and Julius Kingsley over the fate of a Thought Elevator.**


	19. Tokyo Battlefield

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Euro Britannia Thought Elevator, London, June 23rd, 2018.

A Gardmare X stood across from a heavily modified Vincent Commander in front of a Thought Elevator. The pilots of each Knightmare were aware of the identity of the other one and both were waiting for something to happen.

Akito Hyuga, the pilot of the Gardmare X, shouted to the pilot of the Vincent Commander, "Well, aren't you going to start attacking, Julius Kingsley?"

Julius Kingsley, the pilot of the modified Vincent, replied, "Says the blind Eleven to the deaf Britannian."

Akito was sweating bullets as he was perfectly aware that Julius was taunting him. The Gardmare X's ejection system, unlike the standard Gardmares of the Euro Universe, literally jettisoned the pilot to safety if the Knightmare sustained enough damage instead of being a mere escape hatch in addition to possessing Slash Harkens on its shoulders. The Vincent Commander them moved forward and fired one of its Slash Harkens at the Gardmare X, which leapt to dodge the hook and proceed to destroy it with one of its own Harkens before opening fire with one of its autocannons. The Vincent Commander dodged to the left and shot at the Gardmare X with its assault rifle, but the bullets bounced off as a green energy shield enveloped the body of the Gardmare X for a few seconds before disappearing.

"It seems that you have good equipment. However, you also need to be a good pilot in order to defeat me." Julius remarked as he unsheathed a Maser Vibration Sword and tried to slice the Gardmare X in half only for the machine to dodge to the right and shoot at Julius, forcing him to leap to avoid the attack. Julius then fired a Slash Harken that was immediately dodged before doing a side slash that forced Akito to dodge.

Very suddenly, Julius received a transmission from someone and he then said to Akito, "We'll continue our battle at a later date." before leaving.

* * *

Meanwhile in Area Eleven, Tokyo had just erupted into a battlefield. Four hundred Gun-Ru frames and seventy-thousand Chinese foot soldiers were launching their attack from the west, not even caring that they were taking massive casualties as the defending Britannian forces fought street by street and led the invading foot troops into carefully planned kill zones.

_"Targets are in sight, requesting artillery barrage now, Gamma Two!"_ a Britannian foot soldier entrenched at one of the kill zones transmitted.

_"Roger that, beginning the barrage."_ Gamma Two replied before a rain of artillery fire completely destroyed over four hundred Chinese soldiers that were in the kill zone. Another four hundred soldiers clammered in guns blazing and they managed to kill a squadron of Honorary Britannians before another barrage killed them. At another kill zone, seven thousand Chinese had barely begun to push out of one of the ghettos when over half of their numbers were cut down by Gareths and well-entrenched Britannian soldiers supported by artillery.

_"This is Knight Dan Roderick. We've repelled the first wave of enemy forces at kill zone C and sustained minimal casualties. How are the other kill zones faring, General?"_ a Gareth pilot transmitted to Andreas Darlton.

_"Kill zone A just destroyed about eight hundred soldiers within two minutes and kill zone D has reported a similar situation. Kill zone E managed to halt a unit of thirty Gun-Rus from getting out and into the city, but they've taken heavy casualties and sixty percent of their cannons are destroyed! Ever since the invasion, all Britannian forces in Area Eleven have been called here to defend the Government Bureau and the city from attack. Knight, you and the others in your unit are to head to kill zone E and reinforce them before the next attack arrives! Darlton out!"_ Darlton replied from the only G-1 fortress that wasn't on the front lines.

Cornelia was relieved that she had managed to evacuate the civilians before the initial skirmishes that heralded the Battle of Tokyo began. The ghettos were completely deserted after all of the non-Honorary Britannian Elevens had left and while the ghettos around all of the other cities had been razed to the ground, the Honorary Britannians objected and obstructed work whenever the ghettos around the Tokyo Settlement were being threatened. Since the Chinese had yet to break through any of the kill zones, she had not needed to depart onto the battlefield herself. Even so, she remained in the Knightmare Hangar of the Administration Building in case enemy forces were able to steamroll over the kill zones.

The Britannian defenders at kill zone B knew that this was going to be a very long day as hundreds of Chinese troops began a third head-on assasult that would only lead to them all getting killed. One squad in particular was nervous as the last two attacks left at least fourteen hundred Chinese dead each while only about fifty Britannians died from both assaults combined. They had reason to be nervous too as they were running low on ammunition.

Once an artillery barrage came and flattened the Chinese, the squad commander transmitted, _"This is Lambda Squad! We are running low on ammunition and requesting resupply at kill zone B!"_

_"We're en route, resupply will commence in five minutes."_ Britannian HQ replied.

_"Bollocks, nothing takes five minutes! Another attack will be coming on our asses in less than thirty seconds!"_

_"This is HMS Avalon, requesting permission to establish overwatch on kill zone B."_ the Avalon's captain transmitted to Darlton.

_"Permission granted. Deploy Knightmares if necessary, but do not allow the Chinese to break through under any circumstances! We've killed ten thousand soldiers so far and the Chinese aren't even starting yet!"_

_"Knight of Seven, you are to take off in your Gareth along with Luciano Bradley and reinforce kill zone B. Anya Alstreim, the Knight of Six, has her hands full with kill zone D along with the Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg."_ Schneizel said to a very aged and experienced warrior known as the 'Chryatis of Britannia' amongst military personnel.

_"Understood, Prince Schneizel. Salthurion Chryasim will not fail."_ Salthurion said before heading to his Knightmare and getting inside it before launching to the kill zone. The Knight of Ten swiftly followed him and when they arrived, they mercilessly slaughtered the Chinese troops as they made a futile attempt to pin down two Knights of the Round. In the end, it took only four minutes for the attack to end with two thousand Chinese dead and during those minutes the soldiers guarding the only way into the city form the kill zone were able to replenish their ammunition and hunker down with more reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Anya in her Mordred and Gino in his Tristan had managed to not only rally the Britannian soldiers at kill zone D, but they were now leading those soldiers and their artillery support on a counteroffensive in an effort to halt the attack on the Tokyo Settlement. So far, they had managed to get into the ghettos and were simply put killing Chinese soldiers by the hundreds, fully aware that the Gun-Rus had yet to attack for the most part. That changed when the Mordred was fired upon as Anya destroyed a ruined building that a company of Chinese troops were using as a firebase. Anya had barely noticed since the Mordred was taking little damage, but she began to pay attention to them once Gino had destroyed three Gun-Rus only for five more to take their place.

Anya smirked as she used the Mordred's Hadron Cannons to systematically begin bombarding an incoming group of twenty thousand Chinese supported by their own artillery and ninety Gun-Rus, fifteen of which were within five seconds from her current position. Once she stopped, over half of the enemy soldiers were dead, ninety percent of their artilery was destroyed, and only ten Gun-Rus remained while the entire Ueno Ghetto had been completely flattened by the Hadron Cannon's destructive power. Gino and the rest of the Britannian soldiers moved on to clean up what was left as Anya headed to reinforce kill zone E, which was getting hammered pretty hard by the Chinese.

Ever since Tianzi had consolidated power, she had used it to push forth a law that left a maximum age of seventy-five for citizens in the Chinese Federation. Her aim was to reduce the population by no less than thirty percent and enforced the law with death squads, whose only purpose was to kill any citizen over the age of seventy-five. It had managed to cut the Federation's population by seventy-five percent and led to the deaths of numerous elderly people. Even though this would be pretty much a black mark on her reign, Tianzi believed that purging the elderly was necessary since with them dead, the population would finally be mostly consisting of the young and middle-aged.

* * *

**A/N: While Tianzi does have good intentions for her nation, the fact that she ordered the automatic death of anyone over the age of seventy-five is very heartless and knows that she'll have to deal with the guilt of killing people. Also, the large number of Chinese deaths by artillery in this chapter is a reference to how artillery has become the number one killer in warfare. Even when the Knightmare frame was introduced during the Invasion of Japan, I am pretty sure that most of the losses taken by both the Japanese and Britannians were caused by artillery.**


	20. Just a Standard Day in the Office

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_\- thoughts

_"Roger."_\- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven Administration Building, Knightmare Hangar, June 25th, 2018.

Cornelia let out a long sigh as technicians finished up their maintenance of her personal Gloucester. The Battle of Tokyo had ended up raging for no less than sixteen hours straight and even though the Britannian army won, they had taken massive casualties defending the Tokyo Settlement from the Chinese attack. While reinforcements were going to arrive in the form of half a million soldiers, it would take them around a month to get them all into position. Hokkaido and Kyushu were also sore points since the Chinese had fortified the hell out of the two islands after kicking the Britannians out. Of course, the Black Knights had completely shut down or captured all of the Sakuradite mines at Mount Fuji, so retaking them was also going to be a major priority.

Guilford and Darlton had both survived the Battle of Tokyo and were eager to confront the Black Knights. The Glinda Knights and their leader Princess Marrybell had also survived due to them being nowhere near Tokyo when combat had broken out and they had their own reasons for wanting to fight the Black Knights. Schneizel of course was trying to figure out who Zero was and wanted to capture him, unaware that both Cornelia and Marrybell knew that Zero was Lelouch. Both Gino and Anya were aware that the Black Knights had bases everywhere in the Chinese Federation and Orpheus had told everyone that after the Black Knights had escaped Narita, they had taken Nunnally with them to the Chinese Federation but he didn't know where they took her within the Federation's territory. The Glinda Knights and the two Knights of the Round knew that finding out where Nunnally was being held and rescuing her was top priority since she had planned to make a second attempt at starting a Special Administration Zone, but the Black Knights had kidnapped her before she could even begin having Alice write down a rough draft for the plan.

The number of soldiers being deployed to Area Eleven wasn't to secure Britannia's grip on Japan though; it was preparation for a massive counterattack against China. Ever since the declaration of war, the Chinese had been persistent in harassing the Britannian military's presence in Southeast Asia. Schneizel in particular noticed that because of the frequent attacks in the area, construction of the Damocles was delayed for two entire weeks only to get back on track one day later. Cambodia, where the Damocles was being constructed at, was part of the front lines and delays from there could compromise the plan he had in mind to usurp Emperor Charles. The delay had been compensated for by shifting scientists off of other projects over to Damocles, but the process took a large chunk of the day and Schneizel did not want to work himself to death.

A transmission came in from the Avalon and Cornelia answered it, "This is Cornelia."

Schneizel's face appeared as he said, "I'll be testing the FLEIJA in one week at a testing site in Cambodia. Recommend that you do not deploy any forces in Cambodia until FLEIJA's power can be assessed if you plan to counterattack through there."

"I wasn't planning to go through Cambodia for the counterattack. My plan is to charge in from Russia along with the Glinda Knights and begin searching through the Federation for where the Black Knights have taken Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia. Once we find out where they are holding her, we'll attack that base and rescue her. Naturally, Darlton and his Glaston Knights are part of my forces since I want them to have a chance to prove their worth. All of my troops will be in position in about sixty more hours. Once I'm with them, the counterattack is on. Cornelia out."

Cornelia cut the transmission and began to get ready to join her men in Russia. Meanwhile in a secret base somewhere in the Chinese Federation, Rivalz was busy typing away at a terminal in his room and knew that Milly was lying on her stomach on his bed while wearing only a yellow bra and matching pair of panties. Rivalz didn't mind that she was almost naked; after the meeting that revealed to the captured members of the Student Council that Lelouch was Zero, Rivalz managed to get Zero's approval to have Milly transferred from an ordinary cell to his room. This did cause rumors to start up that the blue-haired boy had slept with her. Even though the rumors were technically true, Rivalz was not yet given an opportunity to engage in sexual intercourse with Milly due to exhaustion.

Milly knew that Rivalz wanted her, but she was also aware that he was a Black Knight and had duties to attend to so for now she settled for being in her undergarments most of the time and that did get the sort of attention that Milly wanted from him. The Ashford heiress knew that she liked it when the blue-haired boy played around with her breasts whenever they had a moment for themselves together. Of course, she also helped him strip his clothes off before the blue-haired young man went to bed. Although Milly did like him messing around with her large breasts, she found it relaxing and lovely when Rivalz caressed her ass. She however knew that she also showered with Rivalz and quite a few times when they showered together Milly rubbed her rear end against his groin.

Rivalz noticed something and when he clicked on it, it was a message from Zero stating that Rivalzs had the next two days off. Smirking, Rivalz turned to Milly and said, "Well, Lelouch saw fit to give me the rest of today and all of tomorrow off. I guess that both of us won't be getting much sleep tonight, Milly?"

Milly got up onto her feet, her hair falling down to the middle of her back and smiled before saying, "Oh yes, Rivalz. We are both not getting much sleep tonight. That rapid hair growth lotion really caused a bit of trouble for me the first time I used it, but now I'm glad that I did."

Rivalz knew what she was talking about: One member of the Black Knights had created a unique hair lotion that accelerated hair growth to the point where someone who used it after getting a haircut would end up with hair that tended to exceed five feet in length after ten days. Although many female members of the Black Knights had bottles of the stuff, only Kaguya used it and that was so that she could grow her long black hair down to her cute butt. Kallen preferred to keep her hair short while who knew what Inoue was thinking.

In Zero's quarters, Lelouch and Nunnally were both busy going over a plan. "Yes Nunnally, this might work well for us since a counter-offensive will be launched soon. If the plan is successful, we'll have both Cornelia and Marrybel as allies. Schneizel is the only complication in this plan since I remember him being the only one to defeat me at chess before our mother was killed. He has something planned, and I don't know what it is. Regardless, I will not allow him or anyone else to separate the two of us from each other." Lelouch said to his younger sister.

Nunnally simply smiled at that statement and lightly pecked Lelouch on the cheek before asking, "Will you be heading out into the field?"

"No, this time I am content to allow Tohdoh to lead the main forces. I placed him as my second-in-command earlier this month."

Meanwhile inside a holding cell, Alice was aware that Lelouch was Zero and she was currently thinking over whether she should betray the Britannians and side with the former Eleventh Prince. She knew that Nunnally only wanted to be with her older brother and since he was the leader of the Black Knights, it meant that she was now part of his rebellion. On the same note, Cornelia and other members of the Britannian Military would likely be pissed at Alice for not only failing to prevent the Black Knights from kidnapping Nunnally, but also getting kidnapped herself. Her thoughts occasionally focused on the brown-haired boy guarding her cell, but more often than not Alice foucsed back on her own plight. That got interrupted about forty-five minutes later when the boy opened the cell door and asked, "Is something wrong, miss? You've been staring at the wall for over ten minutes now."

"Oh, I have? I've now come to a decision regarding my loyalties. I shall join the Black Knights, but I only do so for Lady Nunnally." Alice replied.

The boy pulled out a radio from somewhere in his uniform and said, "Zero, this is Rolo. Alice has just said that she is only joining us for Nunnally's sake. Your orders?"

_"Alice is no longer to be detained in a holding cell. I can trust that she is given a new change of clothing before she is escorted to my quarters, Rolo?"_

"Yes, Zero. I will ensure that she is cleaned up and given new clothes before she arrives. Rolo out." Rolo said before putting the radio away. He then said to Alice, "Follow me, miss Alice. I am sure that being in that cell for so long has done damage to your personal hygeine."

Alice followed Rolo to a bathroom that contained a personal shower with a curtain and he said to her, "Please shower in here. A female member of the Black Knights will deliver a change of clothes for you."

Rolo exited the bathroom and Alice stripped off all her clothes and placed them near the sink before she began showering. The torrent of hot water felt heavenly to her as she washed herself. After about fifteen minutes, Alice stepped out of the shower and began to dry herself when she heard a knock on the door.

"Um, can I come in? Your clothes are here, miss Alice." a female member of the Black Knights said as Alice wrapped a towel around herself.

"It's alright now."

The female member of the Black Knights that was outside came into the bathroom and gave Alice her Black Knight uniform before picking up the girl's old clothes and asking, "Shall I have these washed or thrown out?"

"Please have them washed and delivered to my new quarters." Alice said. The female Black Knight then left to do so as Alice closed the door behind her and took the towel off before inspecting her uniform. It consisted of a black buttoned blouse worn under a black jacket, a black miniskirt, and a red-visored black hat. Putting it on, Alice made a mental note to get some underwear so that her womanhood wouldn't be exposed to the world if a breeze lifted her skirt up.

Making her way to Zero's quarters while Rolo escorted her, she passed by Tamaki and a few other Black Knights. Tamaki simply looked at her for a few minutes before snorting and then returning to what he was doing earlier, which was telling how Zero had Kallen spar with him to see how good she was at martial arts. She then arrived at Zero's quarters and knocked before entering.

Inside Zero's quarters, Lelouch was sitting in a chair while Nunnally was on Lelouch's lap. Alice saw that her protectee was wearing a pink minidress that had the hemline end at her thighs while Lelouch was in his Zero outfit except for the helmet. "Lord Zero, Alice has arrived." Rolo said in a monotonous tone.

"Good work, Rolo. You are dismissed." Lelouch said to Rolo. The brown-haired boy then left.

Lelouch then said to Alice, "Alice, just be aware that Nunnally is not a combatant and won't be going out into combat. I'll need you here as a bodyguard for her since there are going to be times where I will need to oversee the Black Knights. I haven't been in contact with Sayoko Shinozaki for almost an entire year now and I don't even know where she is right now, so I'm afraid that you are currently my best option."

A brown haired Japanese woman wearing a Shinobi outfit stepped out of the shadows of the room and said, "Goshujin-sama, I have neither seen nor heard of you for almost an entire year. I was suspicious as to why you abandoned Lady Nunnally."

"Oh, you just arrived Sayoko. This is going to be a long tale, so you'd better listen since I'm only going to say this once."

Lelouch explained what he had been doing ever since abandoning Nunnally after the SAZ Massacre to ther present day. Sayoko remained silent as he explained. "And that's where we currently stand now." Lelouch said as he finished.

"Goshujin-sama, while I am impressed by what has happened so far, why did you feel that it was necessary to make the entire world believe that you were dead?" Sayoko asked.

"I did not want Nunnally to try to seek me out. Rumors would have spread that I would be alive when Nunnally was forced back into the Imperial Family had I done nothing, so I had sent out a video of a body double of me being executed by the Black Knights beforehand to prevent those rumors from being spread in the first place. Call it a preventive measure, if you will. Anyways, since the world believed that I was dead I led the Black Knights as Zero and established our power base here in the Chinese Federation. This was all over a six month period, mind you." Lelouch answered.

"That is actually reasonable. I now know that you kidnapped Lady Nunnally to get her away from the Imperial Family and that you intend to liberate my homeland. Knowing your intentions now, I shall continue to protect Lady Nunnally on your behalf. I shall share this responsiblility with Miss Alice, should you desire that."

"That is indeed a good idea Sayoko. You and Alice will need to protect Nunnally and myself whenever I am around her. Sometimes I have to personally step in to lead the Black Knights, so I want all angles covered. Also, when Nunnally found out that I was Zero and that Princess Euphemia was alive and part of the Black Knights, I found out the hard way that she can't hate me for what I do or for what I have done. That isn't even the end of it either. With the help of the Black Knights R&amp;D department and the medical division, I was able to give my sister the use of her legs back."

Nunnally simply smiled before kissing Lelouch and that caused Sayoko to comment, "It seems that Lady Nunnally is smitten with you, Goshujin-sama, and not in the way that is between siblings. She seems very happy despite the hardship she experienced before finding out that you were Zero."

"Indeed. Alice, this might seem like a sensitive topic, but I want you to hear me out anyway. Before the Black Knights began their invasion of Area Eleven, we attacked an organization called the Geass Order. According to Rolo, you were a member of that organization." Lelouch said to Alice.

"That was correct, Lelouch. You and the Black Knights destroyed the Order and killed all of its members except for myself, Rolo, Jeremiah, and the leader V.V." Alice replied.

"You had been assigned to my sister when the attack occurred and V.V. wasn't at the Sanctuary either. Jeremiah was captured and as for Rolo, he betrayed the Order and is now a member of the Black Knights."

Nunnally got off her older brother's lap and then said, "Since you are now a member of the Black Knights, please be aware that you won't have to worry about Cornelia. Lelouch has a plan to bring her over to our side. Is that correct, Onii-sama?"

"That is correct, Nunnally."

"Anyways, since Lelouch tells me about some of the antics that the other members engage in, I will admit that I do have some antics of my own."

"So what would one of your antics be? I can imagine that you have at least one antic that leaves your brother blushing like crazy."

Nunnally simply smiled and then took off her minidress, revealing not only that she had a pink bra on underneath the minidress but that she was also wearing a pair of pink panties. Lelouch blushed heavily as he turned his head away and said, "You just had to open your mouth and say that, Alice. Then again, Nunnally would have done this anyway since she knows that I'm smitten with her as well."

Nunnally got back onto Lelouch's lap and giggled before she said to him, "You're correct, Lelouch. I would have done this anyway."

Meanwhile in a secluded and dark room of the Imperial Palace at Pendragon, V.V. was in front of five people who were now wearing robes that signified them as members of the Geass Order. "Alright, the five of you are the new soldiers of the Geass Order. You all have five objectives for your first mission." V.V. said before a tactical screen appeared behind him.

"Your objectives are, in sequence of importance, to secure the immortal known as C.C., to terminate the traitor Rolo, to eliminate Zero, to destroy the Black Knights, and retrieve the blind cripple. Is that clear?"

The soldiers nodded in agreement and then V.V. said, "Just be aware that our plans will be in jeopardy should you fail. I advise you to not do so."

The soldiers then left the room. V.V. left afterward and entered the Imperial Throne Room and saw Bismarck Waldstein approach Charles.

"Ah, good to see you, brother. This is my Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein. Waldstein, my immmortal brother V.V." Charles said in an uncaring tone.

"Pleased to meet you, V.V. I am Bismarck Waldstein, the best Knight of the Holy Britannian Empire. I am aware of the situation in Southeast Asia and I can see His fingerprints all over it, even though He's supposed to be dead." Bismarck said to V.V.

"Lelouch is too much of a problem to let him run around unchecked, Charles. I need all of the Knights of the Round to attack China so that we can eliminate him." V.V. stated.

"I was planning to dispatch the other Rounds there anyway to secure Area Eleven, but you wish to know why? It's because half a million soldiers are being deployed there to hold the Area while Schneizel, Cornelia, and Marrybel counterattack with the Rounds into Chinese territory." Charles replied.

A royal guard came in and said, "Your Majesty, Cornelia one again became Viceroy of Area Eleven."

"WHAT!? Did some problem come up that Nunnally couldn't handle?" Charles asked.

"That's the problem, your Majesty. Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia was kidnapped by the Black Knights in a brazen attack on the Viceroy's Palace. I imagine that you did not hear Princess Cornelia's address to the nation since you were busy. I have it recorded just in case anyone forgot about why she became Viceroy of Area Eleven again."

"Play the recording."

The royal guard led V.V., Emperor Charles, and Bismarck into a situation room and pulled out a remote before pressing a button. A TV screen in the room turned on to play Cornelia's address to the Empire. Through the entire recording all of them remained silent and when it ended, it was played again just to make sure that they didn't miss anything.

"This recording is 110% accurate. It was not manipulated in any way, your Majesty." the royal guard said, fearing for his life.

"It seems that I should have kept Nunnally here in the Capital instead of sending her off to Area Eleven. Now that Lelouch has her, it will be much more difficult to defeat him."

"Hindsight is 20/20, your Majesty. Along with the other Knights of the Round, I'll ensure that Nunnally is returned safe and sound." Bismarck said while maintaining a poker face.

With Guinevere and Carine, both of them were with Odysseus in a room of Belial Palace. "Well, this has been one crazy day for us hasn't it?" Odysseus asked.

"You're too correct, dear brother. My home was bombed by the common folk while I was with Carine on a little shopping spree." Guinevere answered.

"It's kinda bad since we'll have to get new servants, but at the same time who can blame the commoners? Many of them have risen up in rebellion across the Empire ever since Princess Euphemia revealed that she was now with the Black Knights after her sudden return." Carine stated.

"You know, for all the trouble that Zero has caused the Empire so far, he won't be around muhc longer. Cornelia and Marrybel are planning to attack the Chinese Federation along with Sir Wadstein and the other Knights of the Round. As for the Knights already in Area Eleven, I'm not very sure about Miss Anya Alstreim but I do know that Gino Wineberg has a good head on his shoulders."

Odysseus rolled his eyes at Guinevere discreetly. He knew that she called Bismarck Waldstein 'Wadstein' and Gino Weinberg 'Wineberg' as a sort-of affectionate nickname when she got to know them. Both Bismarck and Gino actually liked the nicknames that Guinevere gave them and occasionally introduced themselves by their nickname, leading to some hilarity. Then again, Nonette Enneagram called Bismarck 'Bizzy' and the Emperor himself was called 'Charlie' when the Knight of Nine wasn't amongst nobility.


	21. The Plot Thickens

Chinese Federation border outpost, command room, July 1st, 2018 a.t.b.

Oldrin Zevon was aware that her clothes were in tatters right now as she looked around the devastated command room. Her shirt and jacket had holes in them while both of her skirts had a large tear on the right side. Of course, Marrybell knew that her clothes were damaged as well as her dress had been torn in several places and there was a bullet hole in her jacket. There were also a few dead Chinese soldiers in the room and one of them was dressed like an officer.

"These damn Chinese didn't know where the Black Knights took Princess Nunnally! Even the outpost's commander didn't know and I even used my ability on him just to make sure!" Marrybell stated.

"The computers were scrubbed of any information that would have been valuable to us. It seems that the data purge happened two days before we arrived and it wasn't because they expected our arrival either. The Chinese seem to make it so that their border outposts always have outdated information about their own military bases. We'll have to continue our search elsewhere since it's now obvious that this place is a bust." Oldrin Zevon replied.

Meanwhile at the Damocles construction site, an engine test was about to begin. "Green light for testing. Team Tamarov, you're clear to start." The PA system announced. Team Tamarov immediately activated the propulsion system and the Damocles began to lift off into the air. Once it was in the air for about ten seconds it began to descend back onto the testing platform. "That's good, Team Tamarov. The test is a complete success."

Schneizel was notified that the engine test was successful and he knew that it was only a matter of time until Damocles was ready for deployment. The Second Prince sighed as he remembered how he convinced Nina Einstein to remain with his research team when Euphemia declared herself as a Black Knight. Schneizel remembered holding Nina and telling her that Zero had brainwashed Euphemia into turning against the Holy Britannian Empire. Upon hearing that, Nina reaffirmed her vow that she would make Zero pay for what he had done.

When Nina heard of Zero's agreement wtih Cornelia to leave Area Eleven in exchange for not commiting genocide against any Japanese that stayed after the SAZ Massacre, she was furious and vowed to kill Zero to avenge Princess Euphemia. She had gone as far as to steal the Ashford Family's Ganymede and rig it with a nuclear bomb enhanced with Sakuradite with the intent of following Zero and then blowing herself up to not only neutralize Zero, but join Euphemia in death and avenging her. Unfortuantely for her, the Knightpolice had been notified by Milly about the stolen Ganymede and they immobilized the frame before calling in Prince Schneizel's Camelot research team to disarm the bomb. Nina had been imprisoned and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction after the bomb had been disarmed. Schneizel approached her while she was in prison and managed to convince her to join Camelot in exchange for having the charge dismissed.

* * *

At the Vermillion Forbidden City, Kaguya, Naoto, Tianzi, Kallen, Ivan, and Xingke were at a table that was inside a meeting room.

"The Britannian anti-terrorist sons of bitches known as the Glinda Knights are being led on a wild goose chase through the entire Federation right now. I can trust that any and all Chinese bases have absolutely no data on the locations of Black Knight facilities?" Ivan stated.

"The Chinese Federation's military and civilian databases have both been scrubbed of all knowledge about all military bases, including Black Knight base locations, as specified for the Autumn Contingency. As my personal database has special encryption that cannot be cracked, only that specific database still has important information. A bit of bad news for us is that Rei was killed during our successful defense of Hokkaido from a Britannian attempt to reconquer the island two days ago. He sacrificed himself to destroy General Upson's Logres-class Floating Battleship from within and cripple the attacker's air fleet." Xingke replied.

"Even so, the Britannians are still attempting to seize back both Hokkaido and Kyushu from the forces that we've deployed there. They haven't had any success yet, but we can't slack off either." Kaguya warned.

"We're well aware of that, Lady Kaguya. The problem is that the E.U. have been at a stalemate with Britannia along the entire Mediterranean Sea. Yesterday, the E.U. retook Malta from the Britannian force that seized the island four days ago. Euro Britannia is almost gone as a threat to the E.U., something that is kinda refreshing since if the E.U. falls, Britannia can focus all of its efforts on defeating the Federation." Naoto said.

"As far as I know, Britannia is launching yet another attack on the Italian Peninsula. They've suffered three failures already and even when Suzaku was part of the third invasion force, the Britannians were still pushed off the peninsula. I guess that this make it Britannia's fourth attempt to conquer Italy." Kallen added.

A Chinese soldier burst in and said, "Lady Tianzi, General Xingke, I regret to inform you that I have bad news regarding the E.U."

"What happened to it?" Tianzi asked with a frightened expression on her face.

"I would also like to know what is going on with the E.U. that is disastrous." Xingke remarked.

"Well, the E.U.'s W-0 special unit's Headquarters was overrun by Britannian forces. I found out about this information from intelligence team Theta a couple of hours ago." the soldier explained.

Another soldier, this one being a Black Knight, came in and said, "An E.U. Knightmare is approaching. It will arrive here in approximately five minutes. Britannian forces tried to pursue it once it entered our territory, but we held them back long enough for the European soldier to escape."

"Have you identified the pilot?" Xingke asked.

"Negative, sir. The pilot of the European Knightmare wouldn't respond to any hailing attempts. We need to be ready to greet the European solider when he or she arrives." the Black Knight member stated.

Naoto, Kallen, Xingke, Tianzi, Kaguya, and Ivan left the room while following the Black Knight soldier to the Vermillion Forbidden City's entrance. Once there, they waited for the European Knightmare Frame to arrive and sure enough an Alexander that was severely damaged arrived. It knelt down and the cockpit block on its back opened to allow a light blond-haired young woman dressed in a purple skintight pilot suit to exit her frame and drop onto the ground. As she landed, she rolled forward to avoid injuring herself and then stood up for a brief moment before collapsing onto her back. The Black Knight soldier and the Chinese soldier immediately rushed to her and picked her up before carrying her inside a building.

While the woman was carried inside, the Alexander's Core Luminous began to go critical as the machine's chest began to glow a bright purple and Kallen noticed that and said, "Everyone, keep your distance from the European Knightmare! It's about to explode!"

Xingke, who was about to approach the Alexander, immediately backed off and moved to at least fifty meters away from the machine. Everyone else was also about fifty meters away from the Alexander and they witnessed the machine continue to glow purple for a few seconds before it exploded. The Alexander's arms went flying and eventually one of them crashed outside of the Vermillion Forbidden City while the other arm crashed into a wall.

-Two Days Later-

Inside a guest room of the main building of the Vermillion Forbidden City, the young woman awoke and found herself completely naked. She was thankful that the bedsheets were protecting her modesty at the moment even though Kallen was also in the room.

"Oh, you're awake now. Welcome to the Vermillion Forbidden City. My name is Kallen Kozuki, member of the Black Knights. What's your name?" Kallen said to the woman.

"Leila Malcal, commander of the European Union's W-0 special unit. How long have I been out for?" the light-blond replied.

"Two whole days. Shortly after you passed out, your Knightmare's Core Luminous went critical and the frame exploded. You mentioned that you're the leader of W-0, right?"

"I believe I did make that clear."

"Well, two people who claim to be from W-0 arrived here a couple of hours ago and they brought some stuff that belongs to you. I'll go ahead and leave so that you can change in private."

"That won't be necessary." Leila said before opening one of the drawers of a dresser and finding a light blue bra that accentuated her already large breasts and a matching pair of panties before closing it. She opened another drawer and found a couple of spare pilot suits that were meant for her and closed it before opening another drawer, this one having several pairs of shorts. She chose a light green pair of short shorts that hugged her hips before closing the drawer and opened the last drawer to find several long-sleeved shirts, where she found a red one that had a modest neckline.

"You're probably wondering why I'm not going for my spare pilot suits, but there's an explanation for that Kallen." Leila said once she was fully dressed in the clothes she picked out of her dresser.

"You don't need to say it, Leila. Those pilot suits are skintight. I myself have worn one when piloting my personal machine, the Guren Mk-II." Kallen remarked.

"I'm glad to see that you know about how flattering those suits are on us considering that we're both women. However, I happen to be a full-blooded Britannian who disagrees with the outdated way the Empire was handled. My parents were the same way before they died. How is your background, Kallen?"

"I hate to say this, but. . . I'm a half-blood along with my brother as my mother is Japanese and my father is Britannian. They're both still alive, but my father hasn't tried to contact me ever since I went with the Black Knights here almost one year ago and my mother is part of the civilian sector of the Black Knights. She's on a research team that's trying to develop medication that can counteract Refrain. Last I heard from them, they were getting ready to test their product on captured Refrain addicts for side effects. My mother was once one of these addicts herself, but thanks to Zero she was able to get over it and vowed to never take Refrain again."

"You take pride in your Japanese heritage instead of your Britannian one. That alone is proof that most of Britannia is corrupt if half-blooded Britannians prefer their foreign heritage. Although my parents were killed by terrorists, I suspect that Britannia may have had a hand in their deaths."

Leila followed Kallen to a meeting room where Tianzi was waiting along with Xingke and Naoto.

"Leila, the black-haired man is Li Xingke while the white-haired girl is the Tianzi, the current Empress of China. My older brother Naoto has red hair, but if the lighting is poor enough it can easily be mistaken for brown. You'll need to answer some questions that will be asked." Kallen whispered.

"Understood, Kallen." Leila whispered back before reaching a chair and sitting down in it.

"Okay then, now that you're here, we want to ask you some questions. First off, who are you?" Xingke stated.

"I am Leila Malcal, commander of the E.U.'s W-0 special unit. I must thank you for sheltering me here for two whole days. I take it that you know what happened to W-0's Headquarters?" Leila replied.

"One of my soldiers notified me about how the Britannians overran it. What can you describe from when it happened?"

"When the Britannians attacked, it. . . it was almost a disaster. Most of my fellow officers died during the attack and worse, Julius Kingsley was the Britannian leader during the assault on W-0 Headquarters. He personally used a Command variant of the Vincent and tried to kill me no less than three times. Two of those attempts were thwarted by my own subordinates intervening and as for the third and final attempt, Oscar Hamel shoved me out of the way while he was in a Gardmare and took an attack that was meant for me. Before Julius realized what was going on, I was escaping along with my fellow subordinates Ryo Sayama, Ayano Kosaka, Yukiya Naruse, and Akito Hyuga. After we escaped, E.U. forces bombed the hell out of the Headquarters and killed most of the attackers, but some of them went after us and we split off to lose them. I was unlucky enough to be pursued by our attackers all the way here to the Chinese Federation while most of W-0 were able to evade them after we split up. Our scientists managed to evacuate with all of our data and non-essentials to Chinese territory before the attack began."

"As it so happens Leila, Ryo and Akito arrived a couple of hours ago and are awaiting your instructions for them. By the way, I'm Naoto Kozuki." Naoto said.

"Tell them that I intend to join the Black Knights and that they have the option of doing so as well."

In Pendragon, Guinevere was stunned at what she had done earlier as Carine laid dead in a pool of her own blood in the entrance hall. Half an hour ago, Carine was once again badmouthing Marianne when Guinevere slapped the Fifth Princess. For some reason, something in Carine snapped and she immediately went off and stole a rifle from one of the guards before taking a shot at the Crown Princess. Guinevere was thankful that Carine was a poor shot with firearms and killed a servant instead. Seeing that she wouldn't get any results from shooting, Carine whipped out a pair of knives and began to cut down both guards and servants that tried to stop her from trying to kill the older Princess, who was no longer willing to listen or even talk to other people. Unfortunately for the Fifth Princess, Guinevere herself had the luxury of having been taught how to defend herself using various spears such as naginata and pikes during her teenage years and she stabbed Carine multiple times with a Halberd.

_'I. . . I. . . I just killed Carine with my own hands! If father finds out, he'll. . . no! I won't let him do anything to me! I need to get away, far away from my comfortable life here!'_ Guinevere thought as she packed her things and left the Belial Palace in a limousine. At the same time that the Crown Princess left, Odysseus walked into the entrance hall and discovered the dead body.

"Can somebody here explain why one of my younger half-siblings is dead?" the Crown Prince asked.

A guard came up and said, "My lord, Lady Carine was slapped by Lady Guinevere earlier for badmouthing the deceased Empress Marianne vi Britannia and for some reason, Lady Carine snapped and tried to kill Lady Guinevere. Many of our number and several servants are dead as we tried to solve things diplomatically, but Lady Carine was unwilling to even so much as talk to us. Ultimately, Lady Guinevere had no choice but to kill Lady Carine in self-defense. I was present and witnessed the entire situation when it happened."

Odysseus let out a long groan and said, "I need a freaking drink."

"You're not the only one, my lord. Shall I have a team remove the body?"

"Do it. We'll also need to get a lot of new servants and new guards to fill in the holes left by Carine's rampage. As for Carine herself, have her buried amongst the criminals."

"It will be done, my lord."


	22. Everyday Shenanigans

Chinese Federation border outpost, helipad, July 31st, 2018 a.t.b.

-Third Person POV-

A commander who stood in front of five new soldiers stated, "Greetings, you sludge-cleaning new meat. I am Commander Zheng Qin and second-in-command of this unimportant outpost and the only higher-ranking authority you will have to deal with. Hear this well for I am only going to say this once. I only answer to three people: God, the Tianzi, and Colonel Wang. Those High Eunichs your elders told you to obey have been abolished and are now just a bunch of dead limp-dicked motherfuckers. Anyways, all of you need to report to the barracks until further instruction."

Zheng Qin then left the helipad and the five new soldiers left as well. Meanwhile in a Black Knight base hidden somewhere in the Chinese Federation, Lelouch had just finished taking a shower and was drying himself when he heard someone knock on the bathroom door. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Lelouch then asked, "Who is it?"

"Is the door unlocked? This is Anna Clement, former scientist of W-0 speaking."

"The door is unlocked. I just finished drying myself."

The door opened and a girl with light purple hair and bright green eyes came in while she also had only a towel on, but she only had it wrapped around her waist and was aware that her C-cup size breasts were exposed. She blushed heavily as she stared at Lelouch's slightly muscular body. He had taken to exercising so that he didn't have the athletic ability of a marshmallow and while he was nowhere near where a standard eighteen-year old would be, he could run two laps around a track field before stopping from exhaustion. Anna then realized why she came here and covered her exposed breasts with her left arm before saying, "The towel I was given was too small. I could only cover my lower half with the one that I was given by. . . Naomi Inoue, I think it was."

"I swear if this was one of Tamaki's mistakes again, I'm gonna have Kallen rip off his balls before shoving them up his asshole. That being said, you can use one of the larger towels in here, but you'll have to drop it off in the laundry room of the base." Lelouch said before exiting the bathroom and closing the door behind him. Heading to his private quarters, Lelouch went into his personal changing room and immediately changed into his Zero outfit sans the helmet before coming out.

'I swear, whoever built this base should have been castrated by Kallen! There's always a breeze blowing through and the showers are all in a single area as opposed to the commanders and grunts having their showers close to them!' Lelouch thought as he made his way to the mess hall. Once there he noticed that Tamaki and Naoto were arguing.

"Naoto, I did not put radishes in your soup!" Tamaki shouted.

"Bullshit, Tamaki! You put radishes in my soup even though I specified that I didn't want radishes!" Naoto yelled back.

Lelouch decided to step in and immediately got in between the two before saying, "You are forbidden from fighting each other within the Black Knights. If you cannot resolve your dispute peacefully, you will both be confined to your quarters."

Kento Sugiyama then arrived and said, "Um, guys, I have a confession to make. I was the one who put radishes in Naoto's soup."

"You have to patrol outside the base for the next three hours as punishment, Sugiyama." Lelouch stated.

-switch to Euphemia's POV-

I was helping the members of W-0 settle into the base when I first met him. He was a blue-haired young man just like Rivalz Cardemonde but he was Japanese instead of Britannian. My voice got caught in my own throat and I was unable to speak, for somehow I was able to notice that the young man's soul was damaged. Quickly gathering up my nerves, I walked to him and said, "Um, do you need help with figuring out where everything is?"

The young man asked me in a very cold and uncaring tone, "Who are you, and why would someone like you talk to a dead man like I am?"

"I am former Princess Euphemia li Britannia, member of the Black Knights and a leader of their civil sector. Who are you and why do you refer to yourself as dead while it is quite the opposite? I don't need a reason to help people, it's just. . . whenever I see something that needs to change or someone who needs help, I can't just leave it alone." I found myself calmly replying to the young man's questions.

"I am Akito Hyuga. I was supposed to have died because of 'his' actions, which is why I call myself a dead man."

"Who is this 'he' that you just referred to?"

"Shin Hyuga Shing, my older brother. He hates me and desires for me to die. I intend to defy that desire and kill him instead. The hatred between myself and Shin has already reached the point where reconciliation is impossible; for this hatred to end, one of us must die at the hands of the other. Furthermore, he killed- nay, slaughtered our parents in cold blood along with the rest of my clan. Nothing except for our blood ties me to that asshole Shin."

I was devastated to hear that Shin murdered his own parents and his clan without even feeling remorseful for his actions and knew that Akito was adamant in wanting to kill his brother. "Akito. . ." I said rather sadly, but then Leila Malcal arrived at where I was.

"I can understand why you feel empathetic towards Akito Euphemia, but he isn't interested in you." Leila said to me. I turned to her and saw that her expression was rather melancholic. I knew for a fact that she was much curvier than me and her breasts were larger as well. I felt a slgiht pang of jealousy as I admired her body. "I can take it that you speak from experience, Leila?" I asked.

"Yes, Euphemia. It took a long time and quite a few battles, but Akito eventually opened up to me and when the time was right I confessed to him that I had fallen in love with him. Akito only started reciprocating my feelings for him two weeks before W-0 Headquarters was overrun."


	23. Thoughtful Damocles

Somewhere in the Chinese Federation, command room, August 5th, 2018 a.t.b.

Lelouch sighed in relief as he saw and heard Xingke report that the Glinda Knights knew absolutely nothing about where any Black Knight bases were right now. The Britannian troops on the Mediterranean though were almost ready for yet another attack against Italy and while Spain had been conquered and named as Area 24 just yesterday, the loss of the Iberian Peninsula didn't really hurt the E.U. military forces as much as anyone would expect. He did speak with Naoto about Kallen and sure enough, Kallen was starting to fall for him. Then again, Lelouch knew that Rolo and Alice were starting to develop feelings for each other and that Alice was also interested in Nunnally and himself. Of course, Lelouch was not interested in her or Kallen.

"It's actually a good thing that you're not interested in Kallen, Lelouch. Just so you know, I have a tendency to seriously injure anyone who breaks her heart. Then again, you're very protective of your own sister and that has become even more apparent since it's obvious that you and Nunnally are smitten with each other." Naoto stated.

"You have a point there Naoto. Anyways, I need to get going." Lelouch replied before leaving.

Heading back to his quarters, Lelouch noticed Nunnally sitting in his computer chair when he entered and blushed heavily as he noticed that she was wearing a pair of pink frilled panties, a pink bra, and pink thigh-high socks. She also had a slight blush forming on her face as she ran over to her brother and yelled, "Onii-sama!" before glomping him and knocking him backwards onto the bed in the room. Lelouch hugged his sister as well and he heard her giggle before he realized that his left hand was on Nunnally's rear end. It was obvious that Nunnally was a bit perverted herself since giggled when she felt Lelouch touch her buttocks. Before he could even remove his hand from her behind, Nunnally, aiming for one of his cheeks, missed and began kissing him on the lips. Lelouch began to kiss her and the two siblings knew fully well that they were kissing each other passionately.

This lasted for a whole two minutes and when it ended, Lelouch managed to get up to a sitting position while Nunnally wrapped her legs around his waist. The leg braces were no longer needed for her to walk ever since Kallen's mother noticed early in July and began work on a way to reconstruct the neural pathways that were damaged when Nunnally had been crippled. This was done with the Code R research that was found when the Black Knights had seized the Geass Order and Kallen's mother did not work alone. Rakshata stepped in as well and with her help, Mrs. Kozuki was able to complete a form of regenerative surgery in two weeks. Once it was completed, it was almost immediately tested on a member of the Black Knights' civil sector who lost the use of his left arm and right leg due to a car accident from before the SAZ massacre to see if there were any side effects from the surgery.

After two weeks, no negative side effects as a result of the surgery came up from the test patient so with Lelouch's approval Nunnally was taken under the knife again so that the regenerative surgery could permanently give her the use of her legs back. The leg braces had done their initial job well and strengthened her leg muscles, which had atrophied from lack of use for seven-and-a-half years, to the point where only one day of physical therapy was needed, but the leg braces were only one part of the solution. Seeing that Nunnally didn't need the leg braces anymore, they had been removed and were now being kept around in case she or anyone else in the Black Knights was crippled.

Meanwhile with Schneizel, the Damocles was completed and he felt ready to take on Charles using the power of FLEIJA. Sitting inside the control room of the fortress, Schneizel said, "Alright everyone, before we focus on the Black Knights we should pay our Emperor a little visit and seize the throne now. Ever since Princess Cornelia's address to the Empire, many of our people have been furious at the Black Knights for kidnapping Fourth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia. However, the Black Knights have the full power of the Chinese Federation backing them and to counter that, we need ALL of the Holy Britannian Empire's forces poised to attack them." while thinking after that speech, _'That, and with Father out of the picture I can figure out exactly what the hell is so important to him that he won't keep up with the current state of world affairs.'_

The Damocles began to take off and finally left its construction yard with the intent of heading to Pendragon. On a tanker that was fifteen knots from Cambodia, a disguised Guinevere noticed that Schneizel's pet project was complete and thought to herself, 'Dammit, it seems that Schneizel's true nature has shown itself! He intends to take over the entire planet and rule it with the threat of annihilation and he intends to make Pendragon his first target! It's a good thing that I was able to steal Marianne's body and take it with me onto this tanker before it left for Area Ten. It's inside a cryo-tube right now, but hopefully I can take this to Kamine Island and use the Thought Elevator there for my own uses.'

Guinevere had found out that the Thought Elevators were a vital part of a plan called Ragnarok that would have removed individuality from all people. However, the Black Knights had unintentionally derailed it completely when they had seized the Sanctuary of the Geass Order. She did find out from a disguised Black Knight agent on the tanker that the Thought Elevators had a secondary purpose, namely that they were able to resurrect the dead and grant immortality. However, doing so would render the Thought Elevator unusable for a certain amount of time and that resurrecting the dead disabled the Thought Elevators for longer than simply giving immortality. It took five years for a Thought Elevator to reactivate once it granted someone immortality and if it was granted to multiple people, then however many people were given immortality multiplied by five was the amount of years that the Thought Elevator would take to reactivate.

* * *

**A/N: For clarification, any Fanservice that Nunnally is the subject of is always directed towards Lelouch.  
**


	24. New Information

**Disclaimer: Me, Own Code Geass? So incorrect it's not funny. Also, this chapter contains background info on Marianne and by extension Lelouch and Nunnally that will probably NEVER be explained outside of Japan-only novels that are pretty much completely canon unless explicitly stated otherwise.**

Somewhere in the Chinese Federation, Knightmare Hangar, September 4th, 2018 a.t.b., 18:00 hours local time.

Kallen wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead as she exited the Guren Flight-Enabled Version's cockpit and said, "Well, that was exciting wasn't it?"

"You're correct about that, Kallen. I haven't had a decent challenge since I last fought rebel forces in Area Three before I was sent back to Japan. The Italians didn't count since they kicked my ass thoroughly." Suzaku said as he got out of the Lancelot Conquista. Lloyd and Rakshata ended their rivalry almost three months ago and they were able to upgrade the Lancelot from its base form by working together. The Guren MK-II was also upgraded thanks to this cooperation.

"So I take it that it was a draw this time?" Yukiya Naruse asked.

Kallen smiled as she and Yukiya walked to the locker rooms and said, "Well, at least my opponent and I didn't wreck each others frames this time."

"Rakshata and Lloyd are sure going to be pleased about that. By the way, Leila slapped Ryo Sayama a few minutes ago when she caught him trying to sneak into your room and steal your underwear. I kicked his ass after she was done with him because panty theft is not something that I condone, even though I will admit to killing people."

"That's. . . kinda mundane compared to the shit that most Britannian soldiers engage in. I mean, the number of cases that pertain to the rape of female Britannian military officers skyrocketed after the SAZ massacre. That, and many members of the Imperial Family have been increasing their security details and introducing new measures because of how successful Operation Fallen Noble was. By the way, I heard that the Tianzi is going to host a small party a week from now. I received two invitations and I think that you deserve one, Yukiya-san."

"Well, I can't really say no to this so I'll come along to this party. Ayano declined her invitation and gave it to someone else, citing an incident from not only before she, Ryo and I became part of the E.U.'s W-0 unit, but it occurred before we even entered the E.U. It involved a High Eunich, a guard, two mutterings of a word that no man would ever say near a lady unless he had a death wish, and Ayano losing her clothes after we left. Needless to say, it was a disaster that spiraled out of control and she doesn't want a repeat of that incident." Yukiya said as Kallen gave him the invitation.

"Wait a minute, you said that Ayano lost her clothes after leaving. What specifically happened?"

"During the incident, Ayano got sprayed with no less than three bowls of punch and her cheongsam got completely soaked. After we escaped, she had to take it off otherwise she would have died of hypothermia. The problem was that she was naked under the cheongsam so myself and the others hightailed it away when she started stripping off her cheongsam and twenty minutes later when we got back to our campsite, Ayano was back in her regular clothes and said, 'Never again. I don't want to go to another party again in my life!' That situation is why Ayano doesn't like parties."

"Whoa! Talk about emotional baggage!"

"I know. I also heard that Lelouch and Nunnally got invitations as well. Knowing him, he wants to stay close to her in case any Britannian spies try to capture his sister. I know for a fact that Akito and Leila got invitations and Kaguya got one as well. Let's see here." Yukiya said as he looked over the invitation and noticed something fall out of it as he stopped outside the women's locker room. Picking it up, he noticed that it was a note that had writing on it.

**'The party is a formal occasion. Cheongsams or ankle-length dresses are recommended for women as per Regulation 225, set by Emperor Xang Wanmu.'**

"This seems a bit sexist, doesn't it Kallen?" Yukiya asked when Kallen came out of the locker room dressed in a black buttoned blouse that had silver lines on it worn under a black jacket and a black miniskirt. Yukiya knew that Kallen preferred shorts or miniskirts instead of long dresses and pants for whatever reason he could think of.

"Yeah, that is rather sexist. A cheongsam would only be able to reach the top part of my knees and I really don't like wearing long dresses. I think that this 'Xang Wanmu' fellow was probably a very traditional person." Kallen replied as she and Yukiya began to walk on their way to an unused room. She was also thinking of a few naughty ideas about what to do with Yukiya.

"Yep. I did a bit of research on him and it turns out that Emperor Xang Wanmu ruled China for thirty years before the High Eunichs came into existence in the middle of his reign. It was his advisors who styled themselves as the first High Eunichs and they proved themselves as such by removing their reproductive organs. They were assassinated nine years later and more manipulative people replaced them. Xang however proved to be impossible to manipulate, and his successor was also immune to manipulation. The Emperors and Empresses, up until Miss Lihua inherited the Chinese throne, were all strong-willed."

"The Eunichs must have tried something against all of Miss Lihua's predeccesors."

"Her father was. . . unfortunately, I have no idea how her father passed away since most of the data about him was outright destroyed. Her grandfather however was assassinated by someone hired by the Eunichs. The Eunichs were getting desperate when they hired that assassin." Yukiya said before reaching the unused room inside the base and sitting in a chair. Kallen proceeded to one of the tables and moved a chair aside while Yukiya was wondering what she was doing. It then became clear when Yukiya saw Kallen bend over on the table and use one hand to lift the hem of her miniskirt up over her rear and once it was lifted high enough Kallen let it fall and bunch up around her waist, being aware that she was exposing her crimson panties to Yukiya.

Kallen shot him an amorous side glance and giggled a bit before saying, "Like what you see, Yukiya-san?" She wiggled her buttocks as she said his name, which made him blush heavily.

"Kallen. . . I know that you have a very beautiful behind, yet are you sure that this is what you want? I don't really want to put THAT in right now since it would mean pulling off your panties, which are very cute." Yukiya replied.

"I just wanted to show you these panties, Yukiya-san. As far as I know, males often like it whenever they see a girl's panties." Kallen said flirtatiously while shaking her buttocks a little bit before she got up and began to slowly walk backward to the chair that Yukiya was sitting in so that the hem of her miniskirt would not cover her panties. Once she was in front of him, Kallen immediately sat on his lap and began to grind her hips together.

"Kallen, your brother's going to give an earful should he find out about this." Yukiya stated while a light pink blush formed on his face.

"He won't find out if we do stuff here. That's why I chose this area to tease you, Yukiya-san." Kallen replied while her hips continued to grind on his lap even as she turned to face him.

'Great, Kallen is actively trying to make me fall for her! Naoto is sure to kill me if I ever break or even so much as play with her heart! To be honest, he's the second really overprotective big brother I've met and our leader has the number one position of that already!' Yukiya thought as Kallen continued to grind her hips. As she got off, she teasingly said, "Maybe I should sit on your face next time so that my sexy ass and my panties are burned into your mind, Yukiya-san."

* * *

-Two hours later, Zero's Quarters-

"The Britannians must be bigger fools than I initially suspected. They've found absolutely nothing about our whereabouts and are being engaged by the Chinese no matter where they go." Lelouch said to himself while he was dressed in his Zero outfit as he looked over a report from Xingke.

"Onii-sama, Kaguya-chan just told me that she needs to see both of us." Nunnally said to him as she came in while wearing a pink ankle-length dress that had a modest neckline.

"Well then, I guess we should head over to her." Lelouch said as he got up and followed his sister to Kaguya's room. Inside, she was wearing her usual outfit which consisted of a pink blouse and a red miniskirt.

"Ah, Nunnally-chan and Lelouch-san are here. Let me show you something here." Kaguya said as her hands danced over the keyboard and pulled up a family tree that extended from Marianne vi Britannia up to her parents Edward Lamperouge and Arabelle Lamperouge nee Edison, grandparents, great grandparents, and great great grandparents.

"Wh- What in the heck?" Lelouch said, clearly surprised at the information that the family tree displayed.

"H- How can. . . why did we never find this out?" Nunnally said, also surprised.

"I never had to do so much research before on the background of my potential husband before, so this surprised me as well when I first found out earlier. Apparently the vi Britannias and the Lamperouge Family by extension had Japanese blood flowing through them as far back as your mother's great great grandparents. Unfortunately, information farther back than that is something that we don't have any records on. Anyways, it seems that Marianne's great grandmother on her mother's side, Shizuna Lamperouge nee Tokugawa, married a Britannian by the name of William Lamperouge when she emigrated to Britannia."

"Potential husband. . . that must mean that. . ."

"Yes, Nunnally-chan: Taizo Kirihara wants me to wed either your brother Lelouch or someone else that I really don't like. The other guy is about twice my age as well. I know that I do have a third option in Orpheus Zevon, but he is both presently not here and captured by Britannia."

"It seems a rescue operation will be needed. Considering the risks of this mission, I want to have only Yoshitaka and Minami on this mission and that they need to use the Akatsuki-Delta models on this mission."

**A/N: I have a blind poll on my profile page that asks for if I should increase the romance between Lelouch and Nunnally. It will close in about six months from today, give or take a couple of days.**


	25. Hot Kouzuki Springs

Somewhere in the Chinese Federation, Black Knights onsen, former Sanctuary of the Geass Order, September 9th, 2018 a.t.b., 18:00 hours local time.

Kallen was relaxing in the women only section of the secret onsen in the Chinese Federation that was being maintained by the Black Knights. It had been built in what used to be the Sancutary of the Geass Order. While the Thought Elevator was completely cordoned off and separated from the rest of the former Sanctuary, the rest of the former base was being used mostly as a relaxation area and a small segment was a base of operations. A hot spring had been established near what used to be an office complex when diggers discovered a geothermal gradient directly underneath a secondary water reservior. While the reservior was now supplying its water to the hot springs, there were worries about the temperature being too high.

The waters were tested and initially were deemed 'hazardous' until the onsen was built. The place had a special cooling building built so that the water could cool to a safe level, and with the addition of the cooling building the resort could open. When it did, the Black Knights that were garrisoned in the nearby base occasionally flocked to the onsen and by Kaguya's orders the onsen not only had the traditional 'men only' and 'women only' sections, but also a mixed gender section reserved for high-ranking members of the civilian and military sectors of the Black Knights. At present, Taizo Kirihara and two other heads in the six houses of Kyoto were relaxing in the mixed section while Yukiya and Naoto were in the men only section.

Kallen was grateful that the water was steaming hot and yet cool enough to relax in because she needed to relax after several months of not being able to get a break. She suddenly heard a feminine giggle before her breasts were grabbed from behind by a pair of small hands and Kallen slowly turned her head around to see that it was Kaguya Sumeragi who had groped the half-Japanese, half- Britannian girl. Kallen was slightly embarrassed but she hid it as she smiled at Kaguya and said, "Hey there, Kaguya."

Kaguya slid into the water and said, "Hello, Kallen. Your chest is quite beautiful."

Kallen knew where Kaguya was going and playfully teased, "You're such a funny girl to tease me about my breasts, Kaguya. I guess that you admire them, don't you? I will admit though that with enough time, Nunnally's breasts will get larger than my own."

"On the topic of Nunnally though, there's something important that you should know about her and Lelouch." Kaguya stated as she put on a serious face.

"Oh. I do wonder what it is about those two that you came to tallk to me about?" Kallen said as she got serious once again.

"I did a bit of research about Lelouch's background and I discovered that his family has Japanese ancestry. It dates back to when Shizuna Lamperouge nee Tokugawa married one of Lelouch's Britannian ancestors and a tiny bit further back. Lelouch and Nunnally's Japanese ancestry goes as far back as the Sengoku Era in other words."

"Wait a minute, then this means. . ?"

"Yes, Kallen: The Japanese finally have an Emperor again. And we have an Empress in Nunnally as well."

C.C. sauntered in and asked, "You actually plan for Lelouch and Nunnally to become the sovereigns of Japan, Ms. Kaguya?"

"Yeah. I mean, the Britannians assassinated the previous Emperor during the invasion even though Kiromato was just a figurehead with no real power. However, what I have in mind is that our Emperor should be a military commander instead of being a figurehead who has no real power." Kaguya answered.

"That could work, but then many forces would have to be around the Japanese Emperor at all times." Kallen pointed out.

"That is something that I'll address once the plan is actually ready. By the way, what have the Britannians been up to?"

"They're still searching for Black Knight military bases, but they haven't had any luck so far. Over in Europe, the Britannians have launched yet another attack against the Italian Peninsula. Apparently those idiots haven't figured out that their attempts to conquer Italy are not working since this is their eighth attempt."

Leila Malcal walked in and got into the water before she then said, "Euro Britannia has just been defeated. The E.U. are finally now able to focus solely on Britannia."

"About time that happened. One Britannia is difficult enough considering the strength of their military forces." Kallen remarked.

A man was heard groaning in pain as Anna Clement walked in and got into the water before saying, "Ayano Kosaka just kicked Ryo Sayama in the balls just now. Apparently he did something to piss her off and she was kicking his ass."

Several punches and kicks were heard before a Ryo Sayama-sized hole appeared in a wall as the unfortunate man came flying through it into the water. A few minutes later, Ayano Kosaka came in completely naked just as Ryo began to get up and she then asked as she grabbed a wooden bucket, "Feel like kicking his ass, ladies?"

The girls all nodded in agreement as they were given buckets and began to hurl a barrage of them at Ryo, who got hit several times before he fled through the hole in the wall.

**A/N: This chapter was more Kallen-centric than anything. It also looks like I'll be increasing the romance between Lelouch and Nunnally.**


End file.
